Obsession
by MaBre85
Summary: Being bullied most of her life, Max Caulfield suffered a heavy breakdown, leading to the loss of the ability to feel any emotions. As Max attands Blackwell Academy she just works like a machine, until she meets a certain blue-haired punk, who ignites a spark of feeling inside of her, which will soon grow into a wildfire. But how far would she go to defend those she cares for?
1. Prologue

**Obsession**

 **Author's Notes: Hi there, beloved Fanfic readers! So, this is my new story I've been working on for some time now. As in my other stories, Max is the protagonist, but she'll be pretty OOC (which means psycho – or for you manga-loving folks: yandere-style), yet not, like in most Dark-Max stories, evil/insane or sex-driven and such crap.**

 **The other LiS characters will mostly be the same with some variances here and there.**

 **Max will have her powers and will use them to get rid of unwanted people, but she won't be limited by headaches and, of course, there will be no stupid storm!**

 **All-in-all: This entire story will be about Max, killing some LiS cast in a creative way. I'll even take suggestions, if you have any ideas. Just PM me!**

 **Now, happy read!**

* * *

 **Prologue**

 _(White noise)_

 _(A female voice): "Hello? Check, check! Is this fucking thing on? Ugh, fuck it!_

 _Hi there…whothefuckever's listening to this shit…my name's Chloe, Chloe Price. I'm a…well…former student of Blackwell Academy, Arcadia Bay, Oregon. And what I'm gonna tell you now is the most fucked up thing someone could ever imagine._

 _If you've followed the latest news about the…series of tragedies that had happened at Blackwell…okay, some of 'em were not that tragic for me…then I can assure you that none of 'em were real accidents._

 _Rachel Amber, Nathan Prescott, Victoria Chase…ugh, even my Damon Merrick…they all were murdered by one girl. A girl that is obsessed with me. A girl that killed all these people just for one reason: to take revenge on everyone who treated us like shit."_

 _(A long pause, followed by a loud sigh)_

" _I'd bet my sweet ass that you're asking yourself right now, how one girl could kill so many people and get away with it. Well, fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a hella fucked up story!_

 _It all began September 11_ _th_ _, 2017. That was the day I met her for the first time…"_


	2. Chapter 1: Let's Hit the Train

**Chapter 1: Let's Hit the Train**

' _I feel dull. Nothing matters to me. I have no emotions. I have no purpose in life. Every day is the same day, over and over again, for a bit more than a year now._

 _It all started with the bullying. At first they made fun of my freckles. Then it was my flat chest. I got more and more introverted, resulting in more bullying for my developed shyness. At the age of 15 I realized that I crush on girls and, again, I was bullied for it. My parents made me visit a psychiatrist, and I got bullied for that, too. The laughter only stopped as I tried to cut my wrists during classes. Sadly, I failed._

 _What followed were 6 months in a loony bin. There they tried to treat my mental illness. Pills, therapies, even weed…nothing worked. But I also didn't want to stay in there, so I acted normal. I learned to work like a machine._

 _I got up, took a shower, had a breakfast, went to school, went to therapy, came home, sometimes I ate dinner, sometimes I did not, then I made my homework, then I went to bed, sometimes I fucked myself, sometimes I did not, sometimes I even lacked the motivation to finish it, and then, eventually, I cried myself to sleep. Repeat._

 _A few months ago, my parents decided that I needed to get away from the big city. Get away from everything that reminds me of all this shit that had happened. I used to love photography, now I just do it without thinking about it. But still, choosing a school with a renounced photography-program seemed to be the best option. A fucked up town in the middle of fucking nowhere with said fucking school…boom, Arcadia Bay, here I am!_

 _So far, this boring shithole fits my dullness. New people, new location. A fresh start? But what is there to start fresh in the first place? I'm broken. Done. I'm just waiting for one last glimpse of emotion to finally finish myself off. But until this happens, it's just the same routine as ever.'_

* * *

"Max!" a male voice yelled at Max Caulfield, ripping her out of her deep thoughts. The young, brunette girl raised her sight and met the agitated glare of her photography teacher, Mr. Jefferson. "How many times have I told you to pay attention? Do you even know what my question was?"

Max just sat there, not even moving a limb. She didn't feel anything and therefor didn't even bother that she seemed to be in big trouble. Jefferson's words and the snickering of Victoria and her bitches were seeping into her mind and were sucked up by this inner emptiness like matter by a black hole.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Mr. Jefferson!" she stammers, faking guilt and nervousness.

' _I'm sorry,'_ Max scoffs internally, _'another anecdote I always use to get people off my crack. At the time, I'm sorry for everything, even breathing.'_

"Max, this isn't the first time this happened and, though I know that I'm not the best entertainer, I'd be happy if you'd just appreciate my effort to share my knowledge and experience with you. So, if you think you already know everything or you're just bothered by my babbling, then I'd suggest that you should leave this class. But," he paused for a moment, looking at Max very deeply, "You're a talent, Max. And I hate it, when talent is wasted. Therefore, we'll meet for detention right after classes." Jefferson added with a victoriously smirk and continued his lecture.

Half of the class didn't give a thing about what just happened, the other half snickered and made fun of her.

' _New people, new location, the same shit! I'm so tired of it! Thanks for trying, though, Mom and Dad.'_

* * *

Lunch break, meltdown time! Max had kept on pretending to show interest during Jefferson's class, though she just thought about her fucked up life and how to end it.

She didn't feel like eating something, so the brunette girl just walked aimlessly around the campus, made some photos here and there in order to don't look entirely like a mindless zombie.

' _I really seem to have some talent,'_ she thought as she looked at her recent shot, _'But what's the use, if the rest just sucks?'_

The young girl had reached the parking lot and searched for the next object she could make a photo of. Suddenly, something shining blue caught her attention. Completely irritated by it, she took this visual anomaly into focus, using the cam's zoom. With eyes wide open, Max realized that the object of interest was a girl with entirely blue-dyed hair, smoking a cigarette while she leaned against an old, rusty truck.

Unaware of how long she'd already looked at her, she gasped as the bluenette turned her head towards her, giving Max a wry smile.

Instantly, she put away the camera. But instead of running away, Max stayed at the spot, her breathing shallow and her heart racing. Pure panic took a hold of her body.

' _Wowser!'_ she thought, _'M-my body…it's acting so strange. I-I haven't felt something like this in ages. I-'_

"You're always taking creepy photos of people in the parking lot?" a female voice suddenly chimed from beside her, interrupting Max's thoughts and made her go stiff with a loud gasp in an instant. "Uhm, hello?"

"I-I'm sorry." mumbled Max, lacking any other explanations.

"What for? You just took a picture of a strange person without her knowledge and act hella weird being caught. Not creepy at all."

"I-I…" was everything that emerged from Max's shivering lips, and as she felt a soft touch on her shoulder, her breathing stopped entirely. Slowly, she raised her head again until she gazed into a pair of beautiful deep-blue eyes. But her heart almost completely stopped beating as she let her sight wander over the blue-haired girl's entire face. Most people just looked at Max like she was a nuisance, but not this time. To her own surprise, the punky girl didn't give her a stinky eye or worse, no. This time she was greeted with a mischievous, but also friendly smirk.

"Chillax, dude, I'm just messing with ya! You sure you're okay?"

And once more, Max lacked any words, just giving the punk-girl a frantically nodding.

"You're not really talkative, aren't ya?" the quite taller girl said, her smirk faltering.

This time Max shook her head, but after gulping down a big lump she was finally able to speak again. "S-sorry!"

' _How creative, Max. Insert groan here.'_

What followed was a period of uncomfortable silence, only broken by a now frowning Chloe.

"Wow, never had such a lively conversation before," she spoke sarcastically with raised eyebrows, "The name's Chloe, by the way."

"M-Max," the shy girl managed to reply, and was even more surprised as Chloe grabbed her hand and shook it wildly.

"Nice to meet ya, Max! I think we need to celebrate."

"W-why?"

"'Cause you didn't say sorry. How about we meet here after school and then we drive to my secret lair?"

Completely taken aback by this proposal, Max blushed deep-red as her mind painted a bunch of smutty pictures of Chloe.

"Dude," the blunette addressed the almost hyperventilating girl with another frown, "Excuse me when I'm a bit blunt here, but I didn't mean with 'celebrate' that I wanna fuck you…though a lotta things can happen when weed and alcohol's involved."

"Chloe, are you coming?" a blonde girl, which Max recognized from her photography class, shouted from the other side of the parking lot. She was approximately Max's height, but had definitely more curves and a very beautiful face.

"Well, duty calls. See ya, Max!"

Unable to tell her that she already had detention this afternoon, Max watched how Chloe and the blonde girl got into that rusty truck and drove off, the bluenette giving her one last wink.

* * *

It was afternoon. The last classes had ended a few minutes ago and, though Max had attended them, she didn't remind anything of the lectures, because she'd always thought about Chloe. Seeing the blue-haired punk again was even more important than worrying about the consequence she would've to face after skipping her detention with Mr. Jefferson.

' _For over a year I haven't felt anything, and then Chloe came along and…I felt something again. Was it desire? Lust? Even love? I don't know, but I wanna feel it again, even if it means that Jefferson's gonna report me to the Principal.'_

She arrived at the parking lot, her heart already pounding in her chest out of nervousness. But it dropped almost instantly as the brunette girl realized that there was neither a rusty truck, nor a blue-haired punk to pick her up.

' _Figures,'_ she thought, clenching her jaw and hands, _'She was probably just shitting me. Maybe she sits somewhere near by and laughs her shit off.'_

Already turning around to eventually still making it to detention, Max heard the screeching of tires and saw how Chloe's old truck rushed into the parking lot with full speed, coming to a hold right in front of the small girl with another loud screech as Chloe hit the breaks hard.

The passenger's door flew open and a toothy grinning blue-haired punk looked at her. "Sorry for being late, but I had to get some weed first. Hop in!"

As soon as Max gazed into this beautiful face again, her heart and breathing made an instant pause once more. Without saying a word Max embarked the vehicle. Her hands were clawing into the straps of her bag as Chloe punched the gas and both were on their way to Chloe's secret place.

' _I'm alone with her,'_ thought Max, glimpsing at the punk from time to time, _'I wonder what she's planned for us?'_

"So, had a nice school day?" the blue-haired girl asked, giving her a friendly glimpse, which wasn't answered since the brunette girl kept gazing at her lap.

Being reminded of school, Max's expression darkened. "School sucks ass! I hate it! Sometimes…" she sighed, "Sometimes I wish I could drop a fucking nuke on this place!"

"Wow, and I thought you were one of those shy photo-geeks that would love to fuck their photography teacher."

"I hate this asshole," replied Max with an agitated tone, "I'm just glad that you gave me a reason not to attend his fucking detention."

"Wait, you skipped detention for me?" Chloe spoke in awe, her eyes wide open. A big smirk appeared on her face as Max nodded. "Girl, you and I will have a great time!"

* * *

As it turned out, Chloe's secret lair wasn't her bedroom, some abandoned building or a bat cave, but an old junkyard. With passion the bluenette told Max how she discovered it and made it her second home. How she found and repaired that old, rusty truck she's driving. And, sadly, how much time she'd spent there with her girlfriend.

That Chloe was into girls was nothing more than good news for Max, but that she already had a girlfriend almost crushed her. Especially as said girlfriend, Rachel Amber, suddenly appeared at the junkyard and crashed their togetherness.

"Where's my junkyard-queen?" it chimed from outside the makeshift cinder block building, moments before the blonde girl with a blue feather earring from earlier this day appeared in the door.

"Heya, babe!" answered Chloe, who was sitting on an old couch, smoking a cigarette.

Without giving the on some blocks sitting Max even on glimpse of attention, Rachel almost jumped onto the couch and pulled Chloe in for a intense and long tongue kiss.

As soon as their lips meat, Max felt a painful sting in her heart. Her entire body clenched as it was flooded with pure jealousy. If the brunette hadn't looked away, she would've screamed out loud.

After Rachel had broken the kiss, she exhaled the last remnants of Chloe's last drag, took the cig out of her hand and flipped it away. "Why are you still smoking this cheap shit?"

"Because it's cheap." was the bluenette's plain answer, followed by a grin.

"But it tastes like horse shit."

"Oh, so you know how horse shit tastes?" Chloe mocked, receiving a punch on her shoulder and an agitated glare from her girlfriend, while she snickered.

"You're such an asshole sometimes!"

"And you're an insane bitch…sometimes!"

"You paused!"

"Yup, I hella paused! Want a joint?"

"Ooooh, you…always know how to lighten up my mood…asshole."

With another giggle, Chloe brought forth a joint, lighted it and took a deep draft, before giving it to Rachel who did the same.

"This is Max, by the way." added Chloe, pointing at the brunette girl.

"I know," replied Rachel, exhaling a dense cloud of smoke, "Alias _Silent Max,_ alias _Stutter-Max_ , alias _I'm-sorry-Max._ "

Each of those names should've hurt the small girl, but she was used to it; knew them all; but her heart skipped a beat as Chloe's former relaxed expression became dead serious. "Dude, stop calling her that! That's just cruel!"

"What are you doing here anyway?" the blonde kept pushing, ignoring her girlfriend and took another draft, "Shouldn't you be in detention with Mark right now?"

"C'mon, Rach, leave her alone. I invited her and she skipped school, so what?"

"So what?! SO WHAT?!" Rachel yelled, jumping up, "How about my period's over and you owe me at least three big ones! So," now she turned to Max, fury burning in her eyes, "How about you take a hike and let me get busy with MY girlfriend?"

Max stayed silent, not moving a bit. Like always in such situations she had shut herself in, let the deep emptiness inside of her suck in every insulting and intimidating word. Only as Chloe took her side again, she felt a glimpse of joy.

"Just stop it, Rachel! I invited her and I say she stays, period! Besides, I owe you shit!"

Rachel now turned towards Chloe again, crossing her arms. "Oh I know what you're doing here. This is about our last fight, isn't it? You dragged her here to keep us from having sex, didn't you?"

"No," now Chloe blurted back, standing up, too, "This is about you, cheating on me with Frank fucking Bowers!" After hearing this, Rachel's arms dropped and she lacked a reply. "Yes, I know about you and Frank, and it disgusts me just to imagine that he touches your body. The body that I used to kiss so often." With angry steps, Chloe walked to the door to leave the shack, just turning around one last time before she passed the doorframe. "And I brought Max here because she seemed to be all alone, like I used to be at Blackwell. It's called sympathy, bitch!"

Then, Chloe was gone, leaving Max and Rachel alone. The blonde girl sighed deeply and gazed at the already extinguished joint in her hand. "Shit!" she muttered, let herself fall onto the couch again and reignited the blunt, taking another deep draft. As she exhaled the smoke, Rachel reached Max the joint, who, however, shook her head.

"I know who you are, Max. I know _what_ you are!" the girl with the feather earring suddenly said, glancing at the silent girl angrily. "You're fake. You think that your shy emo hipster appearance will get you some pity. That you get sympathy. Well, it may work with Chloe, but not with me."

"W-why did you cheat on her?" Max said quietly out of a sudden.

"I have my reasons. But believe me, I love her."

"B-but you hurt her!"

"Listen, bitch," Rachel suddenly yelled, jumped up again and darted towards Max, grapping her by the collar of her hoodie, "It's none of your fucking business. She will never love you. You hear me? Never! Chloe is MY girlfriend, so cut the drama and fuck off, you ugly cunt!"

It wasn't the insult or the yelling, but the fact that Rachel was right that let something snap inside of Max. The blonde had shown her the reality: she was just an ugly weirdo who nobody would ever love. How could she compete against a Rachel Amber anyway? The breaking of her heart was the last bit of emotion that had been missing to take the last step. All hope was lost now. A flood of tears flowed down her cheeks as the emotional pain inside became unbearable. She ripped herself from Rachel's grasp and ran out of the makeshift building, but came to an instant halt as she saw the train tracks nearby and heard the blaring horn of a nearing train. Dullness took over as she walked slowly to the tracks and stopped in the middle of them, awaiting her final destiny.

"HEY!" it suddenly chimed from the hut. Only moments later Rachel came out, running towards Max. "What are you doing? Are you insane?! Get off the fucking tracks!"

But Max didn't even bother to listen or, let alone, look at her. She just stood there and closed her eyes, ignoring everything around her, only enjoying the sound of the nearing train and the singing rails.

' _Finally,'_ she thought, feeling some sort of inner peace, until her body was taken into a tight grip. With a strong pull she was tossed off the tracks so hard that she stumbled and hit the grassy ground with a groan. What followed was a loud cry of agony by Rachel Amber.

"Max!" the blonde called out, "Max, I need help!"

Shaking her head, Max slowly regained some composure. She got up and looked around, seeing Rachel laying on the tracks, groaning in pain.

"Max…m-my foot…it…it's stuck. And my ankle…fuck…I think my ankle is broken. Y-you need to help me!" the blonde spoke with hisses and moans, trying to free her foot.

But Max just stood still and gazed at her emotionless. "Why did you do that?"

"What?!"

"Why didn't you just let me die?"

Again, the horn of the closing in train chimed, letting the girls realize that it wasn't far away now. In panic, Rachel's eyes opened wide as she glimpsed into the direction where the train was about to appear and then back to Max.

"Listen, Max, I'm sorry for what I said, okay. I-I didn't know that you are really suicidal. I thought you were just acting. FUCK! I'm so sorry. Please, help me!"

Max could see the fear and panic in the blonde's blue eyes. How she was literally pleading her to help. But the brunette didn't move, just looked at Rachel with an emotionless gaze.

"How does it feel that your pleadings for help are not heard?"

The singing of the rails got louder.

"What?!"

"How does it feel to be ignored?"

Rachel screamed out her pain as she tried to free herself with every bit of strength she could muster, doomed to fail.

The sound of the incoming train could be heard now.

"How does it feel to be left alone with your pain, just waiting for the soothing end?"

"Max…please!" Rachel pleaded with a low, shivering voice, tears flowing down her face.

"Except Chloe nobody ever cared about me, so why should I care about anybody else then Chloe?"

The train came around the corner, instantly hitting the emergency breaks, though it was a lost cause.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" Rachel whimpered repeatedly, knowing that her fate was sealed.

"MAAAAX…" she screamed one last time before the train hit her with an indescribable sound. The force was so strong that blood and body parts were splattered across the landscape.

Max, who was standing nearby, was sprinkled with red droplets. Any normal person would've gotten a trauma by seeing such a horrible event, but not her. She just stood there, still feeling nothing.

Rachel Amber was dead; hit by a train. This was nothing more than a fact for the young girl. But what surprised her a bit, was that she was smiling wryly, knowing that Rachel would never hurt her dear Chloe ever again.

The train had finally come to a halt, ending the deafening screeching sound, letting Max hear a silent sob right beside her. She turned her head with eyes wide open, seeing a shocked Chloe standing there.

"Rachel…" Chloe whimpered quietly, before she collapsed to the ground, crying her emotional pain about the loss of her girlfriend out loud.

Seeing the blue-haired girl like this, hurt Max inside, made her feel pity for Chloe. "I'm so sorry!" she whispered as she was embracing the devastated girl. And this time she really meant it. Though, she wasn't sorry about Rachel's death, but for the pain Chloe has to go through, before she'd realize that this was necessary to live a better life. A life with someone who really cared about her; who would never hurt her; who would even kill for her. A life with Max.


	3. Chapter 2: Always Take the Shot

**Chapter 2: Always Take the Shot**

Numerous people sat in the by the evening sun red enlightened office of Principal Wells, and Max was one of them. As always, the small brunette stayed silent, making it seem like she wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings, but quite the opposite was the fact. From the corner of her eye she scanned every person in the room.

There were Rose and James Amber. Rachel's parents, both mourn the death of their daughter. From what Max had heard so far, James was the typical stick-up-your-ass DA, while Rose seemed to be the all-American, caring housewife.

There was Chloe, her crush. Since she had to witness her girlfriend's death, the punk-girl was pretty absent, not saying one word. Sometimes though, Max had the feeling that Chloe was gazing at her angrily.

Right beside her was a tall, strawberry-blonde woman who had some similarities with the bluenette, definitively her mom. She wore the uniform of a waitress, saying _Two Whales,_ the name of a local diner. Max had eaten there once. The food was pretty tasty and had put at least a light smile on her face…a seldom curtesy.

Behind mother and daughter stood a tall man with an army-styled haircut and a ridicules mustache. Max knew him. David Madsen, head of Blackwell security and from his closeness towards Chloe's mom probably her boyfriend or even husband. Yet, Chloe didn't seem to like him plus they don't share any resemblance, so he's probably not her biological father.

The next person was a police-officer. Principal Wells had introduced him as Anderson Berry. Neither Chloe nor Max had spoken to the police yet, so he probably was here to take some notes for a statement.

And then there were Mark Jefferson and Principal Wells. While the teacher stood beside the desk, the Principal gazed out of the big window and broke the silence with his deep voice.

"Such a tragedy!" he said, before turning around with a sigh and sitting down at his desk, "Today, Blackwell lost one of its most exemplary students. Mr. and Mrs. Amber, once more I want to say my condolences and, of course, we will do everything to come to the bottom of this…this very unfortunate event."

"Mr. Wells," now Chloe's mother spoke, "Why are we discussing this here anyway? I understand that James and Rose want some certainty regarding this tragic accident, but my daughter just lost her girlfriend and needs time to mourn, too."

"Mrs. Madsen, be rest assured, after we're done here your daughter will have more than enough time to mourn. But for now it has to wait. One of our students is dead, another one involved. The school's reputation could be permanently damaged if we don't bring some light into this incident." he said to Chloe's mother, who was indeed David Madsen's wife and therefore made him Chloe's step-father. Then the Principal shifted his stern gaze towards the police-officer. "Mr. Berry, have any of the two girls made a statement already?"

"No," the black-haired man answered, "Our psychologists says that both are suffering from a trauma because of witnessing the accident. So far, every scenario's possible, even murder or suicide."

"My daughter was not suicidal!" James Amber threw in, "She was a happy, diligent and innocent girl with a healthy family."

"Pft, healthy and innocent…yeah…right." Chloe suddenly scoffed quietly, making everyone look at her.

"Did you just say something, Miss Price?" Wells asked the bluenette with an arched eyebrow.

"No." was her cynical answer while she crossed her arms. Immediately, James Amber jumped up and yelled at her.

"My daughter is dead! Do you think this is a joke?!"

"You tell me, James." Chloe countered, holding his angry glare, "Or do you really believe that bullshit you just coughed?"

"Chloe!" her mom tried to intervene, but couldn't prevent the upcoming fight as Mr. Amber got even more furious and hissed his next words.

"From the first moment I saw you, I knew that you'd be a bad influence on my Rachel. You poisoned her!"

"Said the _Dad-of-the-year._ " Chloe continued, "While you were busy lying to her, I showed her how to be herself; how to be strong; how to live with a broken family. Healthy family my ass! The only thing I didn't teach her was how to fuck our drug-dealer."

"YOU…" he started to yell, ready to jump at the bluenette, but was stopped by the soft touch and voice of his wife, Rose.

"Chloe," the brunette woman spoke with a sorrowful voice, "My beloved Rachel is dead and I know that we weren't a perfect family, but please, for once, don't make this about you or your anger towards James!"

"But you heard him, Rose! He blames me for this. Everyone always blames me as soon as some fucked up shit happens in this stupid hickhole!"

"Then maybe you should start telling us the truth and say what happened, Miss Price." Principal Wells simply stated, folding his hands in anticipation. And with a loud sigh and a dropped gaze, Chloe started to tell her sight of things.

"I don't know, okay! Me, Rachel and Max were chillin' in our hide-out, then…we had a fight and I went deeper into the junkyard to blow off some steam. Then I…I heard her scream and when…when I…when I returned it happened. Rachel was stuck with her foot in the tracks and…and then she…" Her voice failed and a sob escaped her as Chloe broke down, digging her face deep into her mom's shoulder.

Oh, how much Max wished that it would be her shoulder which could give her crush some comfort, like at the junkyard. But right now it seemed like something impossible. Chloe was devastated by Rachel's death, despite that the blonde had hurt her. Maybe saving her life would've led to gratefulness from Chloe' side; would've given her the impulse to break up with Rachel and be together with Max. But eventually, this was nothing more than a theory and imagination, disrupted by Principal Wells' deep voice as he addressed Max.

"Miss Caulfield, though I can understand that such a horrible accident can be very traumatizing, we need to know your involvement, especially since you shouldn't have been there in the first place."

For a long moment, Max kept quiet and thought about her options. If she'd confess that she didn't help Rachel it would almost be the same as murder. So, she ruled that one out. Another version would be that she'd arrived too late to help, but Chloe already said that she'd heard Rachel's pleadings, so there was the possibility that Chloe might call her lie. And being caught with a lie would just bring her into deeper troubles. So, how could she turn this mess into her favor? It's obvious that Chloe had been in love with Rachel and it was a fact that everyone was about to make her the scapegoat. Now, how could she take the blame without going to jail and even put Rachel on a higher pedestal to honor her demise in order to sooth Chloe a bit? And then she had an idea! All Max had to do was a little acting.

' _Lights! Camera! Action!'_

"It was my fault…" Max spoke quietly, her voice brittle and her eyes filling with tears, "I…I saw a doe in the forest and…and wanted to take a photo, but..." She paused for a moment, faking a sob. "I was so focused on finding the right angle that…that I didn't realize that a train was coming. Rachel…she pushed me off the tracks, but…but got stuck somehow. I…I wanted to help, but I just froze and then…"

' _Time for some big tears!'_ Max thought with an inner smile.

"I'm so sorry!" she whispered at first, gazing with her red-cried eyes at Rose Amber, "Your…your daughter saved my life and I…I…" Then Max buried her face in her hand and cried out loud.

Everyone in the room was quiet and looking at her with some pity. Everyone, except Chloe.

"Well," Officer Berry said after some moments, taking some notes for his report, "Looks like we can rule out suicide and murder, then."

' _And the Oscar goes to: Max "gimme-some-pity" Caulfield! Yay!'_

"We can't rule out anything until this case is closed!" added James Amber and stood up, "Mr. Berry, I want this case given the highest priority. So, make sure that those files are on my desk by tomorrow! Mr. Wells, Ladies and gentlemen, have a nice day!"

With these words said, James and Rose Amber left the office.

"Then I'll be on my way, too." stated Officer Berry, "'Cause thanks to our DA I have a report to finish until tomorrow. Thanks for your cooperation and have a good day!"

Then, he was gone as well as Chloe, her mom and David Madsen, who hadn't anything else to add to the case. Only Max remained, the sternly gazes of Principal Wells and her photography teacher, Mark Jefferson locked on her.

"Miss Caulfield," Wells' deep, monotone voice chimed again, but Max knew better than to look at him. She just kept on playing the poor girl which had fucked up big time, "Not only that you purposely skipped your detention, it probably led to the death of one of our most exemplary students. I have more than one reason to expel you from Blackwell."

' _Then just do it, asshole!'_

"However, Mr. Jefferson sees a lot of potential in you and is willing to support another chance for you. Of course, I can't let you get away with only a simple warning. I hereby sentencing you to detention for the entire rest of the year with the hope that it'll finally teach you to focus on what's really important: your education!"

' _You wish! The only thing that matters to me right now is Chloe. Fuck education!'_

"Miss Caulfield!" now the Principal said even louder, making Max look at him, "It is clear to me that you started to spent time with Miss Price. Since this is a free country I can't forbid you to do so, but…I need to warn you about her possible bad influence she can have on other people."

"B-but Rachel…" Max began to stammer, trying to keep her façade up while deep hate towards the Principal burned inside her.

"Miss Amber had a strong personality which was able to withstand such influence, yet the entire faculty noticed a change in her behavior. Miss Caulfield, I just don't want to lose another talent and tell you to be cautious around her, that's all. Now," he gathered some sheets of paper which were scattered in front of him, piling them up as he finished his speech, "I suggest that you go back to your room and think about your future. Mr. Jefferson will make sure that you arrive there safely. Good day!"

' _Yeah, right…safely. Pft! You just want to keep me and Chloe apart. This won't happen, dickhead!'_

"C'mon, Max!" said Jefferson, already standing beside the still sitting slender girl. With a faint nod, Max got up and followed her teacher. Just being close to him, the young girl felt an inner unrest and disgust. This entire situation had been pretty hard for her and, actually, she didn't want to go back to her room right away. She needed some time alone, without Jefferson or any other student. Even a slight minute to calm down would be enough for a start.

"M-Mr. Jefferson?" she said, stopping in her tracks.

"What is it, Max?"

"C-can I use the bathroom? I…I need to pee, pretty bad."

Sighing in annoyance, Jefferson simply nodded and Max walked directly towards the bathroom. After she'd entered it, the brunette went to the sink and watered her face, gazing at it in the mirror.

' _I killed Rachel Amber…'_ she told herself internally, _'I let her get hit by the train. But it was necessary! She used Chloe. She'd hurt her. She was cheating on her. Chloe deserves better. Chloe deserves…'_

Her train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted as someone grabber her shoulder tightly and turned her around. To her surprise, Max gazed into the with anger burning, red-cried eyes of Chloe.

"Why didn't you help her?" the bluenette hissed with gritted teeth, shaking the smaller girl, "Why did you let her die, huh?"

"Because she'd hurt you." was Max's calm answer as she held her crush's gaze, "You don't deserve to get hurt!"

Now scanning her several times in unbelief, Chloe eventually let go of Max and kicked against one of the toilet stall's door, before she turned around once more. "Who the fuck are you? WHAT the fuck are you? Are you a fucking psycho? Did it get you off, watching her pleading?"

Being confronted with the whiff of truth that she was indeed a psycho, Max gazed shyly at her feet, touching her right arm with her left hand. "I-I just wanted to help."

This answer made Chloe scoff out loud and shake her head while she walked up and down. "You know what?" she eventually said, "Stay away from me or I'll tell everyone what you did!"

The bluenette was about to leave as Max's through the girl's room echoing voice let her stop immediately.

"Why didn't you help her? Why did you lie in Wells' office? Why are you covering me anyway?"

On the spot, Chloe turned around, gazing with her wide open eyes into Max's stinging ones. "What?!"

"If you really heard Rachel's pleadings, you must've known that my story was bullshit. Yes, Rachel saved my life, but not because I wanted to take a shot. I didn't even have my cam outside my bag. And you only could've known that I watched her die, if you were watching the whole scene yourself." With slow steps, Max closed in on Chloe, and as she'd reached her, the freckled girl lied her hand on the taller girl's chest, glancing into her eyes deeply. "We're partners in crime now, Chloe. We both wanted her dead. Now this little secret binds us. Don't you feel the connection? A connection that I felt since the first time we saw each other."

For a moment there was complete silence while both girls stared at each other. Eventually, Chloe broke the gaze as her eyes began to well up. She swated Max's small hand aside and left the bathroom, leaving the younger brunette behind.

* * *

Once more she felt empty and alone. As Max was walking beside Mark Jefferson, she looked at her right hand. The hand which had touched Chloe's chest. She missed the warmth, the heaving with every breath and the thumping of her heart. The young girl led it to her nose and inhaled the remaining scent on it deeply. She smelled cold smoke, weed, a hint of perfume and something sweet that could only be Chloe's characteristic odor. Oh, how Max would love to brush with this hand over her entire body now, imagining that it would be Chloe herself who'd do it. But sadly, it wasn't possible right now and it seemed like it won't be possible in the near future, because Jefferson wasn't leading Max towards the dorms, but to the parking lot.

"Wh-where are we going, Mr. Jefferson?"

"Since you thought you simply could skip our detention lesson today, I decided to catch it up right now." he answered dryly, not even giving her a glimpse.

"B-but…"

"Ssh, just be quiet, Max and get in the car. We're making a little fieldtrip."

Without any other word, Max complied and both left the parking lot. As soon as they'd reached the main street, Jefferson steered the vehicle towards south. Like the black outside, the inside told Max that this vehicle was something for people who didn't know what to do with their shitload of money or who needed to compensate for their tiny dick. Leather seats, state-of-the-art tech, a way too overpowered engine, blackened windows…she'd liked to puke on it.

"You know what I hate?" Jefferson suddenly asked rhetorically, not waiting for an answer, "I hate it when my work gets not valued or even destroyed by someone like you!"

Lacking any reply that wouldn't make her teacher furious, Max simply used her standard line.

"I'm sorry!"

"Yeah, and I hate that, too!" he stated, still focused on the street, "You killed my muse, Max! You took her away from me. Why?"

Max wasn't even able to speak out another fake apology as she felt a stinging hot pain in her neck, followed by a heavy drowsiness.

"Wh-wha…"

As the young girl turned her head towards Jefferson, she saw that he was putting down a syringe on the middle console before he lost his temper and yelled.

"Why didn't you just die, huh?! You stupid cunt! I and Rachel had a bright future ahead of us and you destroyed it! While you freak always zone out and apologize for every shit, she took initiative and inspired me, but you…" With a big sigh he tried to gain back his composure while Max's sight began to blur and keeping awake almost became an impossible task. "Well Max, I'm not gonna lie to you. I'll kill you, but before I do that, I'll at least give your pathetic life one last meaning. You'll be my model and then I'll finally get rid of your annoying existence."

One last time, Jefferson glimpsed in Max's eyes. The small girl could see the madness inside of him and realized, if she really was a psycho, she just met the king of them. Eventually, only one last, whispered word crossed her lips before her mind drifted into darkness.

"Chloe!"

* * *

A cloud of dense smoke covered the evening sun for a short moment, before it was carried away a gasp of wind. Once more, Chloe took a deep draft from her joint, let the biting smoke inside her lungs until it started to hurt and blew out in one big exhale. She tried to forget Max's words; tried to forget the truth they'd carried with them.

The bluenette had indeed watched the entire time Rachel was pleading for her life. She'd overheard Max's words towards her girlfriend and she'd done nothing.

"I wanted her to die," Chloe whispered to herself, taking another hit right after it. "There was no other way."

Feeling that the joint wasn't able to help her, she snipped the half-smoked blunt down the cliffs and let her gaze wander around until her eyes got fixed on the red brick buildings of Blackwell Academy and her mind drifted back to the freckled face of Max Caulfield.

' _She saved me. She did what I wasn't able to. She helped me to finally get rid of Rachel.'_

Remembering her deceased girlfriend, Chloe covered her face with both hands as some tears rolled down her cheeks, but not because she missed her, but because how many times the blonde had hurt her.

' _All those fucking fights. All those plans that she always prolonged out of stupid reasons. Then this stupid shit with Frank. And I bet that she'd fucked even more people behind my back, only to come back if it didn't work out with them. And I, idiot always let her back in my heart. Every time I wanted to finish this fucking thing we'd going on, she managed to wrap me around her pinky again. Never, ever again, bitch!'_

Suddenly, her phone buzzed. She took it out of her pocket and saw that she had a message.

[UnknownNumber]: _you'll pay 4 what you've done to Rach! prepare to die, bitch!_

' _Fuck! This day's getting better and better. Not only that I made a whacko my new friend and Rachel was ripped into bits and pieces, now I even get kill threats. Ugh! Well…nothing I can do 'bout it right now.'_

She put the phone back into her pocket and gazed once more at the far away buildings of Blackwell Academy. Her thoughts were actually nothing more than a rollercoaster, swirling around different stuff, but one thing always popped up eventually, Max. It was not like the bluenette had developed a sudden crush on the small girl, but something about her seemed pretty off and since they both were carrying and sharing the same dark secret, Chloe wanted to know more about her.

Having made the decision to pay Max a visit, the punk-girl pulled out and lit a cigarette as she walked back to her rusty truck.

* * *

Darkness was all around her. She felt how her senses awakened more and more with every second. She could hear a click.

 **Click!**

She knew that sound. Already heard it numerous times.

 **Click!**

The shutter of a camera! But who was making the photos? And what was this person shooting? The answer followed right away.

 **Click!**

"Oh yes, Max! That's it. Just hold it a little bit longer!"

 **Click!**

"Perfect!"

Jefferson!

With all her willpower, Max tried to shake off this heaviness that was keeping her in the darkness, but all she managed was a soft groan.

"Oh, you're already waking up. Seems like the dosage was a bit too low." Jefferson's voice chimed. Then Max heard steps, some rummaging and then some more steps, closing in. "I'm sorry, Max. But I need you to stay asleep a little bit longer. You don't wanna ruin my work again, aren't you?"

"N-no…no!" Max groaned before she felt another stinging pain in her neck and drifted back into sleep.

* * *

Entering Blackwell property had never been a problem for Chloe. Even after she got caught leaving Rachel's dorm room and got banned from the grounds, the bluenette had always found a way inside.

During classes and the breaks she merely marched inside, knowing that most of the guards either watched the campus outside the main building or were showing presence in the hallways. But as soon as the sun was down and curfew came closer, the patrols on the school grounds became more frequent and avoiding them needed a lot of skill.

Lucky for her, Chloe could be very skilled if she wanted to, the fact that she was standing in the dorm's hallway, underlining it. Now, she only had to find Max's room. Not an easy task, regarding the number of dorm rooms, but thanks to her activities she'd had with Rachel, Chloe knew that for the last few years, Blackwell's administration had stuffed all the students of the same year on the same floor, and since Chloe had realized that Rachel and Max had known each other, the chances that they had lived in the same hallway was pretty high. So, she made her way up to the second floor.

As the bluenette was now checking the whiteboard slates in front of every room for a hint about which could be Max's room, she bumped into someone.

"Heeey," the girl blurted out, "Can't you stupid cunt just watch where y-…"

Chloe didn't even have to look in order to know who was standing in front of her. She just groaned an annoyed "Fuck!" and let her gaze fall on a tall blonde girl with a pixie-haircut and the most overly expensive clothes she'd ever seen on a person.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't Kari Price!" said Victoria Chase with an arrogant tone, resting one hand on her hip.

"Chloe!"

"Yeahyeah, whateff. So, what're you doing here? I heard Rachel's finally reaching for her beloved stars…bit by bit."

Seeing such disrespect towards her late girlfriend, Chloe felt the need to slap the shit out of blonde's head, but what would be the use? Rachel would still be dead and Chloe in even more trouble, which she couldn't really use right now, since she practically helped killing her. So, all she did was giving the arrogant girl a sour expression.

"I don't know what's even more fucked up, Bitchtoria. That you're actually making fun of someone who has recently died or that you're obviously enjoying this."

"Au contraire, Kari. I'm not enjoying this at all. I simply don't give a fuck. Life goes on, except for her. Now, if you excuse me, I've way more important stuff to do than talking with the trash of Arcadia Bay. Ciao!"

Like being on the catwalk, Victoria went on, giving Chloe just a slight wave with her hand before she entirely ignored her.

"Bitch!" the punk-girl hissed and continued her search for Max's room. Suddenly she remembered that the room's occupants were always noted on the emergency map of the floor. She searched and found it right away.

' _Ah, there she is! Max Caulfield, room 219.'_

As she'd reached the door of 219, Chloe knocked at it and waited for an answer, but there was none. She tried it again, once more to no avail.

"She's not here," suddenly chimed a female voice from behind. Chloe spun around and gazed at a girl with blonde, into a bun bound hair. She was Max's height, slender, wore some cozy jogging clothes and had a black and white colored bunny on her arm, which she cautiously petted.

"Well, okay…uhm…"

"Kate."

"…Kate! Do you know where she is?"

"No," the small blonde answered shyly, "Are you a friend of her?"

For Chloe, this was a good question. Was Max her friend or just an acquaintance, or, as the brunette had stated it, a partner in crime? She didn't know and therefore lacked a real answer. "Well…kinda."

"Oh!" Kate then said, a faint, warm smile on her lips, "So, you're her girlfriend! Rumor said that she's gay, but I don't mind, I actually…"

"Nononono! Dude, stop! I'm not her girlfriend. We just met today. But listen," Chloe now pulled out a black marker, took Kate's free arm and began to scribble on it, "here you got my number. If you see her, call me. Okay?"

Entirely confused, Kate stared at the numbers on her arm for some time, not realizing that the bluenette had almost left. "What's your name?" she called after her, making the punk turn towards her with a wry smile.

"It's Chloe."

* * *

She heard light Jazz music playing in the background as her senses kicked back in. She still felt drowsy and her head hurt like someone had driven a big nail through it.

As Max had almost regained full consciousness, she slowly opened her eyes and tried to move, but the light was too bright and she wasn't able to move her limbs.

She blinked a few times until her eyes got used to the brightness. Though her sight was still blurry, she could see that she was in a big room. Then more and more objects became clearer. Spotlights, a couch, cabinets, a trolley with numerous objects on it. In the distance, Jefferson sat at a desk and worked on a computer, humming the melody of the song as he clicked the buttons of the mouse.

Now Max recalled his voice from the first time she tried to wake up and she instantly knew that she was in big trouble. Once more she tried to move, but as she gazed down her body, Max saw that her wrists and ankles were strapped to a cozy chair with duct tape.

"Ah Max, there you are again!" Jefferson's voice chimed as he stood up and walked towards the young girl. "How're you feeling?"

If she could, Max would've simply flipped him off, but lacking the ability to do so, she gave him a pissed-off "Go to hell!"

"Oh Max," he chuckled in amusement, before he grabbed the freckled girl by her hair and pulled on it, making her groan in pain, "You're such a nuisance!" he hissed, "Always being disrespectful and stuck in your own fucked-up world, like this blue-haired bitch Rachel always hung out with." Then, Jefferson released her and took a step back, "But don't worry, I'll take care of her, too."

Realizing that Jefferson wanted to kill Chloe, Max's eyes widened as she gasped a loud "No!"

Suddenly, her teacher closed in, touched her cheek and looked deeply into her blue eyes. "Look at that," he spoke in amazement, "This mixture of fury, hate, desperation, realization and love…just beautiful! You're special Max, but also annoying as fuck, therefore I'm gonna end our little session now." He walked over to the trolley and prepared a syringe by filling it with an unknown liquid. Max now realized that she was about to die. A fact that didn't bother her at all, but knowing that Jefferson was going to harm Chloe too, let her plead.

"Please, Mr. Jefferson, Chloe isn't responsible for what happened to Rachel. If you wanna blame someone, then blame me and leave her out of it, she didn't do anything."

"WRONG!" he yelled at her, "This cunt was the reason why Rachel even was at this fucking junkyard. She was the reason why Rachel was unhappy here. And I'm gonna kill this faux punk slut slowly. I'm gonna let her beg for ending her pathetic life."

The small spark of resistance from before now turned into a wildfire. With a loud scream, Max struggled against her bonds, trying to rip them open, but it was no use. She remained in her seat, yet Jefferson had to take one step back upon his victim's rage. Slowly, he came closer again, the syringe ready in his hand.

"You have a lot of fire in you. Maybe you would've become a good photographer anyway, but not in this life, sorry!"

Jefferson leaned forwards and placed the needle close to Max's neck, ready to give her the deadly injection. The young girl didn't beg for her life or cried her eyes out, because it was about to end. No. Max gave him the most evil glare she could muster.

The needle was about to make contact with Max's skin. She only awaited the sting, but it didn't happen. Instead, all color faded from her sight and Jefferson just stood in front of her, frozen in his doings.

' _What the fuck?! Is…is this the effect of the drug?'_

She then felt an uncomfortable throb in her right hand, like it was about to go numb. Trying to get rid of it, Max moved it and, suddenly, everything rewound in a fast pace. Her brain, unable to process this unknown movement of things, sent confusing signals to her balance system and made her feel dizzy and sick. She heard Jefferson's voice, saying everything backwards.

"!yrros ,efil siht ni ton tub ,yawyna rehpargotohp doog a emoceb ev'dluow uoy ebyaM .uoy ni erif fo tol a evah uoY"

Then, everything stopped once more and ran normal a second later.

"You have a lot of fire in you. Maybe you would've become a good photographer anyway, but not in this life, sorry!"

' _I'm alive?! What the fucking hell is going on here?'_

"MAX!" Jefferson yelled, giving her an evil glare, "Are you even listening?"

' _Let's see if it happens again.'_

"Blah, blah, fucking blah. Just shut your fucking pie-hole and get it over with, asshole!"

Being enraged by this insult, Jefferson took the syringe in his clenched fist and wanted to ram it into Max's throat, as, once more, time stopped and rewound after she'd used her right hand.

' _Fucking shit, it worked! Can I actually influence time? Hmm…let's do an experiment and see if I can do it without almost dying.'_

"STOP!" Max called out, making Jefferson stop in his doings, "I know it sounds insane, but…isn't it a common curtesy to grant the delinquent one last wish?"

For a moment, Mark Jefferson looked at the girl with a puzzled expression until he began to chuckle out of amusement.

"Oh Max, you're one sneaky bitch, but I admire your courage and will at least listen to your _final wish_."

' _Okay, if I wanna have a chance to escape and safe Chloe, I need to convince this fucker to unbind me. If my powers work like I imagine it, then I can always undo my answers. Let's see how far I can push him.'_

"Can you please leave Chloe out of this? Just kill me, she…"

"No!" Jefferson plainly answered and closed in.

' _Fuck! Again! Maybe something more subtle.'_

 **Rewind!**

"C-can I have a glass of water, please?"

"A glass of water?!" Jefferson scoffed out of amusement before he became dead-serious again, "I'm sorry Max, but since a glass of water would be nothing more than a waste on you now, I'm going to neglect your wish and finally kill you." Once more, he closed in with the syringe.

' _Shit!'_

 **Rewind!**

"Can I have some food, please? I-I feel kinda peckish."

"Some food?!" Jefferson scoffed out of amusement before he became dead-serious again, "I'm sorry Max, but since food would be nothing more than a waste on you now, I'm going to neglect your wish and finally kill you." And again, the syringe came closer to Max's neck.

' _Dammit! Think, Max, think! Ah, got it!'_

 **Rewind!**

"I'm sorry Max, but since food would be nothing more than a waste on you now, I'm going to neglect your wish and finally kill you." And again, the syringe came closer to Max's neck.

"B-but I read that some drugs work better on a full stomach than on an empty one."

' _Totally bullshit, but who cares? Hopefully he'll believe me anyway and I can buy some more time for more opportunities.'_

"Is that true?" Jefferson asked with a frown, brushing through his trimmed beard, "Well, I really wanna make sure that you die as fast and clean as possible, so…" He put the syringe down, headed over to the desk and picked up a half-eaten takeaway sandwich. "Here, eat fast!"

Almost forcing the sandwich into her mouth, Jefferson let Max eat.

' _Blech, just imagining that this scumbag had this thing in his mouth almost makes me vomit it all out again! Chill Max, you're doing this for Chloe!'_

With small and slow bites, Max tried to buy more time, thinking about some more options how to escape her captor.

' _This fuckhead must've some weak spot. Something that'll let him lower his guard, so that I have a chance to get myself out of this chair…but how? The only thing he always cares about is his stupid work. Wait, that's it! He has a fucking huge ego. Hmm…let's see if I can trigger it.'_

A new plan in her mind, Max gulped down the last piece of sandwich and glimpsed at her teacher, who was already looking at her with a sour expression, clearly annoyed.

"Are you finally done now, and ready to peg out?"

"Nope!"

 **Rewind!**

The half-eaten sandwich wasn't on its former place on the desk, telling Max that things she had in her possession during her rewind were staying with her.

' _Hmm, this opens me some more possibilities!'_

"MAX!" Jefferson yelled once more to get Max's attention, "For god's sake, even when you're about to die you stupid cunt just zone out! Y'know what, forget this last wish and…"

' _Fuck you, Jeffershit!'_

 **Rewind!**

"M-Mr. Jefferson, c-can I…m-maybe, see some of your pictures of me, please? Y'know…just out of curiosity."

Taken aback by this wish, Mark Jefferson gazed at his student with a mixture of surprise and interest.

"You wanna see the pictures I took of you?" he asked, just to be sure eventually and received a shy nod by Max.

"Yeah, b-because I…uh…I always loved your work and seeing me as your model would be a dream come true! Please," she now pleaded with some – well acted – welling up tears, "I-I always wanted to feel special."

Her plan worked. Obviously, being pleased and grinning in smugness, Jefferson stretched his body. "Well, there's always time left for some exquisite art. Let me just prepare everything and I'll show you that even someone like you can be a fabulous model."

Max watched everyone of Jefferson's doings as he prepared a projector and a canvas, sadly there hadn't been any opportunity which she could had used for her advantage. Soon, everything was set and ready, and the first picture was shown in front of the still bound girl.

Just seeing herself like this: drugged, half-conscious, completely out of it and additionally half-naked, short: without any control, almost let Max lose her composure. But she had to keep it inside, if she…wait! She didn't have to keep it inside!

"Oh, I like this one," Jefferson said with a smile as a picture showed Max just wearing her bra, one breast peaking out.

Now it was enough! Max gathered her entire anger and let it out.

"YOU SICK FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!"

 **Rewind!**

"I'M GONNA RIP OFF YOUR DICK AND SHOVE IT INSIDE YOUR UGLY ASS!"

 **Rewind!**

"I'm gonna kill you for this!"

 **Rewind!**

"This one's really good! Never thought I could be material for a nude shot."

"I know, right?" he replied with a smile and became enthusiastic, "But this is art! Transformation. Turning an object into something entirely different. A gift not everybody possesses. Sadly, it only works if the subject's able to let go of its façade and only a few people are able to do it without some…help."

"You mean drugs?"

"Yes," he answered softly with a shrug and sighed, "Sacrifices have to be made if you wanna be successful in the art world."

"I-I understand. This is really awesome!"

"Thank you Max, I really appreciate your praise, but sadly our cooperation is coming to an end now."

' _Okay, I crawled up enough into this asshole's…well, asshole. Time to play my cards right and rip it apart!'_

She mustered every bit of her acting skills to appear as seductive as possible, knowing that the other weak spot of a man rested between his legs.

"Who said that our cooperation has to end?"

"Oh c'mon, Max. Don't start to plead for your life now!"

"I don't, but you just showed me the _dirty_ side of art and I kinda like it, plus…" She leaned in as much as her restrains let her, putting some more power into a fawning voice, "Your muse isn't around anymore, so…care about a new one?"

But so far, everything she got from her teacher as a smile of amusement. "As tempting as it may sound, but you don't bring the right qualities."

"C'mon Mark, you know how good my photography skills are. Now just imagine that I've the same skills in…uhm…another area of expertise. If y'know what I mean."

Suddenly the amusement vanished from his gaze at Jefferson's primitive instincts for procreation snapped in and Max knew that she had him on her hook.

"Say…Mark, why don't you cut me loos and have your way with me on the couch?"

"No," he answered to her surprise, "You can show me your skills right where you are."

He opened his pants and, right away, Max realized what Jefferson wanted her to do.

' _Blech, not in a million fucking years! At least now I know what he likes.'_

 **Rewind!**

' _Time for some dirty-talk!'_

"Say…Mark, I bet you're the type who likes a woman on her knees, blowing your cock, right?"

"I think sitting will do just fine for testing your skills," he replied, already about to open his pants once more, but Max wanted anything else than seeing his penis.

 **Rewind!**

"I don't know what type Rachel was, but I like it slowly. Y'know, kissing, then undressing, a bit foreplay and then the real deal. But…uhm…what I really like is to make others hot by masturbating in front of them."

Now even more triggered by this seductive comment, Jefferson's predatory instincts were taking over entirely. He grabbed Max's hair and pulled on it hurtfully, making the brunette look at his lustful gaze.

"If you try something funny, I'll beat and fuck you to death, understood?"

Max replied with a nod and to her surprise, Jefferson immediately released her. But to her displease, he always kept an eye on her, so that there never was a chance to act without getting caught, and another possibility hadn't presented itself yet. So, she was literally forced to play along.

"Now gimme a show, you little slut!" Mark ordered, readying his camera.

Slowly, Max stripped off her clothes, but still cautiously kept on spying around and thinking about a way to escape. Just running away, even with her powers, wasn't an option. Fighting him without a weapon doomed to fail. So, she definitely needed a weapon.

Max now only wore her underwear and was just unhooking her bra as a heavy, folded tripod caught her attention.

' _A perfect weapon, but this creep is still lookin' and…ugh, he already has a boner. Oh dog, please gimme a chance to kill this perv!'_

Eventually, Max let her pink panties drop, too and was standing entirely naked in front of her teacher, who made shot after shot with his camera. Max was pretty sure, if she still would've had her emotions she would've already vomited and screamed all around the place out of embarrassment. Plus, that it was very cold and uncomfortable.

She let herself fall onto the quite comfortable couch, spread her legs and was about to massage her sex as she remembered the sandwich from before.

' _Hmm, let's see if it works with something as big as a tripod, too.'_

The brunette girl got up and grabbed the tripod, which caused Jefferson to jump on his feet too, ready to attack her.

"What're you doing, Max?"

"Oh, I like to fuck cam equipment. And…uhm…" She closed in, pressing the cold aluminum tripod against her naked body, "You're gonna die now!"

 **Big Rewind!**

It had worked! Max still held the tripod in her hands and she was still naked, while Jefferson tried to undo the restrains on the chair, which now only had Max's clothes on it.

Taken aback by the girl's sudden disappearance, Mark Jefferson jumped up, spun around and saw the small girl, standing right behind him. He wasn't even able to react as the heavy aluminum object hit him right in the face, sending him into an uncomfortable sleep.

* * *

Two bottles of Sherry stood on his desk. One entirely, the other one half empty. James Amber stared at the picture of the young freckled girl, called Maxine Caulfield. On the desktop in front of him lied several files of everyone who was involved in the death of his beloved daughter, Rachel. The police already suggested that the incident had been nothing more than a tragic accident, but he knew better. During all those years as an attorney, James had learned that nothing, but really nothing was in fact so obvious from the start. Behind any case there was a dark secret and it was his job to find out the truth.

The door to his office opened and Rose Amber, dressed in a bathrobe, entered, ripping him out of his thoughts.

"James," she said with a soft, yet heavy voice, "It's already three in the morning. I know that this lays heavy on us, but please, don't drown yourself in work just yet. The police…"

"The police don't know anything, Rose!" he responded a bit harshly, "They believe this girl's story, but I know that she lied. Something's off with her and…"

"James!" now Rose interrupted him, cupped his face with her hands and made him look into her watery eyes, "We BOTH lost Rachel and I…I need you now, more than ever! Please, let the police do their work and give yourself some time to mourn!"

As he saw a big tear rolling down his wife's cheek, James Amber let out a big sigh and took Rose into a soothing embrace, rocking her softly as the sorrowing woman began to cry into his shoulder.

Inside, the DA of Arcadia Bay felt burning hate towards the person who did this to his family. He knew that the death of his daughter hadn't been an accident, and he already had a suspect: Max Caulfield.

* * *

Slowly, Mark Jefferson regained consciousness. His head and mouth hurt so much that it almost drove him crazy. He heard a female voice, humming a song and as he opened his eyes, he saw the origin. Max Caulfield was sitting on his desk and did something on his computer. Now remembering what had happened, the mid-aged man tried to stand up, but couldn't, because now he was the one bound to the chair.

Of course, his try to free himself had induced some noise and brought Max's attention towards him.

"Oh, hi Mark!" she said with a childish voice and a sheepish smile, "You're finally awake!"

Once more, Mark Jefferson tried to break the bonds of duct tape with a loud groan, making his headache even worse, but it didn't do any good. He was forced to stay seated and this loss of control made him angry.

"How's this possible?! You were strapped to the chair and…"

In a blink if an eye, Max appeared right in front of Jefferson, startling him so much that he tried to back away, but instead he fell together with the chair backwards and hit the ground with a loud thud. Once more, the freckled girl's face appeared in his sights.

"Awww, bad Jeffy-jeffy made boom-boom!"

Despite her skinny stature, Max managed to lift Jefferson back up and, once again, she vanished and appeared right on the desk again.

"How's that possible?!"

"I don't wanna bore you with the details, but let's just say, you're pretty fucked!" answered Max nonchalantly, not even giving him a glimpse, "Wowser! You've got some really kinky shots on your PC, like this one."

Max made some clicks with the mouse and a series of nude picture of Rachel Amber was shown on the canvas right in front of Jefferson. Some of them even showed the blonde in different sexual positions with her teacher.

"Damn, I already knew that Rachel was a slut, but I never would've guessed that she'd fuck someone like you."

A new series of pictures appeared.

"Pft, I know this bitch," Max scoffed, "Figures that you would take her. But wait…Kate Marsh?! You sick fuck really kidnapped Kate Marsh?!"

"As if you ever cared about this little Christian cunt!"

"Oh, I do, Jeffy. 'Cause she's the only person at Blackwell, who hasn't given me any shit so far. She even greets me every time we see each other. So, seeing her pictures here kinda makes me mad."

Once more, Max appeared in front of him out of thin air, but this time the childish amusement had entirely vanished from her face and had been replaced by an emotionless gaze that showed no mercy. In her right hand she held a syringe, which she gave a short glimpse.

"Well, I think it's time to get rid of your sick, fucking ass!"

Mark Jefferson's eyes widened in fear as the pointy needle came closer.

"Wh-what is that? What are you doing?" he asked in fear, almost panicking.

"Oh this?" Max answered, glimpsing at the syringe once more, "I found some pretty heavy drugs and I…uh…I just wanna know what happens, if you mix them together."

"Y-you're crazy! You can't do this!'

"But I can. It's quite easy actually, because in fact I'm insane." Then she leaned closer, the needle slowly entering his neck, "What was your motto again? Oh yeah…always take the shot!"

* * *

With delight, and some sort of satisfaction, Max pressed the clear liquid into Jefferson's body and then took a few steps back to watch his agony.

His face grimaced in pain as his body began to spasm. For a moment, the brunette girl thought that the restrains might break and immediately reached for the tripod, but it didn't happen. Blood and vomit flowed out of Jefferson's mouth and silenced his screams as his struggle against death continued. The entire time, Max glimpsed at the clock on the wall, realizing that this horrible way to die lasted for over three minutes. Eventually, Jefferson's fight ended as his body went limp.

Very cautiously, Max approached the corpse and checked for vital signs, but there were none. Mark Jefferson, photography teacher of Blackwell Academy and notorious psychopath was dead.

"Guess you piece of shit won't hurt my Chloe anymore, huh?" she said emotionlessly and placed a kick against the dead man's chest, making him hit the ground once more. Then, she gazed around and a slight shiver ran over her spine as she tried to imagine what else happened in this place. As she thought about what to do next, her sight fixed on a picture of Kate Marsh that was still shown on the canvas. Max approached it slowly and slightly bobbed her head to one side as she took in the details.

' _I never realized how beautiful she really is. In school Kate always seems…so…distant. So reluctant. I know that she gets bullied for her appearance and beliefs…like I am. Maybe that's something that binds us?'_

After one last brush over the on the fabric projected photo, she knocked the canvas over and began to stack up every piece of Jefferson's sick work. The binders, the pictures, the drugs, the PC, hard drives, flash drives; everything was piled up on Jefferson's body, covering it entirely. After she was done and had drenched the pile with flammable paint thinner, which she'd found too, Max gazed at the pile one last time with disgust before she ignited it and watched the spreading fire for some time.

During the time Jefferson had been unconscious, Max had used the opportunity to take a look around. She already knew that she was in a heavy bunker, which was hidden under an old barn in the middle of nowhere.

Right after leaving said bunker, Max made sure that the door would stay open to assure some air supply for the fire before she left the barn.

' _I could use Jefferson's car to get back to Blackwell, but it would look too suspicious if I drive around with it. Ugh! Looks like I have to hike back. Hopefully I won't get lost.'_

With another big sigh, Max grabbed her bag which she'd already prepared with some water and food from the bunker's storage and began her journey back to civilization.


	4. Chapter 3: I'm Falling for You

**Chapter 3: I'm Falling for You**

Hot water flowed over her young body as Kate Marsh took her morning shower. She'd just finished washing her long, dirty-blonde hair and was now simply enjoying the warmth for some time more, being glad that nobody in this dorm got up as early as she always did, which gave her the advantage to be alone during her morning toilet. Plus, showing her body to others wasn't really something she graved for. Well, except it would be Max.

' _I wonder where she is,'_ Kate thought with concern as Max Caulfield popped up in her mind, _'I don't think that she came back last night. What if…what if she and this girl…what was her name again? Ah yes, Chloe! What if she already hooked up with her and spent the night with…with her together and they…'_

Her thoughts were interrupted as the shower room door was opened and she heard the arrogant voice of Victoria Chase.

"…telling you Sweet T, something's off with that bitch."

The small blonde cautiously opened a gap in the shower curtain, through which she spied Victoria Chase and her BFF, Taylor Christensen, a girl with long, golden-blonde hair, wannabe expensive clothes and way too much cheap jewelry, standing in front of the mirrors, applying some make-up into their faces.

"I think she's just bonkers," now replied Taylor, "Have you heard the rumors that she allegedly escaped from a loony bin?"

"Yes," Victoria sighed, rolling with her eyes, "along with all the other bullshit, like that she's an alien, a mass murderer, a genius or simply a plain stupid lesbian. And y'know what?" She then gazed intensively at her friend. "I think she's just another bitch, who tries to get some attention by playing the pity-card, 'cause she obviously lacks any other qualities!"

"Yeah," then snickered Taylor and flicked with her finger like she had an idea. "Maybe we should get her hooked up and wasted, film it and put it online like you did with this Christian slut. I mean, who would show pity to a whore?"

For a moment, Victoria stopped in her doings and thought about Taylor's suggestion. "Yeah, maybe we should do that, but she won't get away as easy as Kate. No! I wanna shoot a real porn with her. Maybe with some dock-workers or something."

"Oh, this sounds so awesome! You have the best ideas ever!" cheered Taylor, now packing her stuff like Victoria. Both then left the bathroom with evil chuckles.

Almost unable to comprehend what she just heard, Kate closed the gap in the curtain, her entire body trembling.

' _Victoria made this video of me?! Sh-she drugged me?! And…and she wants to do the same to my Max?! No! I can't let this happen! I need to tell Max what's going on as soon as I see her!'_

* * *

Kate's entire further morning was peppered with a lot of disappointments. One string of her violin snapped and left a scratch on her cheek, she got bullied by other students for that devilish video and, first of all, Max still hadn't shown up yet. The only upside was that photography had been canceled, because Mr. Jefferson appeared to be sick.

She never liked Jefferson, because he always acted so patronizing and behaved so strange around her. Plus, that the young girl had started having nightmares of him.

Being completely over humanity, Kate had decided to spend the lunch break in her room with her bunny. She already had bought a salad and a sandwich in the cafeteria and was now on her way to the dorms, as suddenly, she saw a dirty- and weary-looking girl, heading the same way. Kate immediately recognized that it was her crush, Max Caulfield.

"Oh my god, MAX!" she called out and started to sprint towards the brunette, "Oh Lord, what…what happened to you?"

Entirely taken by surprise by this sign of concern, Max just stared at Kate for a moment, before she quietly gave an answer.

"I…uh…I kinda went on a hike and got lost."

"You like hiking?"

"No…not really, but…I-I kinda needed to get away. Y'know, blowing off some steam, getting rid of some troubling stuff."

"Oh, okay. I…I understand." Kate then said, followed by a moment of uncomfortable silence, in which the shy blonde just threw a few glimpses at the girl she had a crush for.

' _I wonder what really happened to her. She never seemed like the type who would go for a walk and get lost, but I won't push it since it's none of my business.'_

She then broke the silence as she realized that Max was standing on shaky legs, "D-do you need some help or…?"

But Max just shook her head. "No, I think I'm gonna take a shower and then…ugh..."

Suddenly, Max lost her balance as the exhaustion became too overwhelming and would almost had hit the ground if Kate hadn't caught her.

"Dear Lord!" she gasped, followed by a groan as she lifted Max a bit up and supported her weight. "I think you should lay down a bit, first!"

Not receiving an answer, Kate began to carry Max into the dorms. On her way she passed several other students, but none of them wanted to help her. If it was because nobody cared about her or Max or even the both of them, she didn't know. What she knew was that every muscle of her body screamed for a break. Luckily, she soon reached their floor, and since Max's room was still locked and the blonde didn't want to rummage through the brunette's bag, she simply brought her into her own room and lied Max onto her bed.

At this time, the freckled girl was already entirely out of it. The only thing Kate could do right now was to take off Max's dirty shoes and tug her in as good as possible. She then also got some wet-wipes and started to clean her smudged face.

' _Gosh, she's so beautiful! I wish I'd have the courage to tell her my true feelings!'_

For a moment, Kate felt the urge to touch every single inch of crush's body, but tossed it away immediately, telling herself that Max could easily wake up every moment and wouldn't probably be pleased to get sexual harassed. So, in order to distract herself, Kate sat down onto her table and started to draw. She even ignored the fact that she'd actually still classes that day and skipped them.

A lot of drawing later, Kate heard a soft groan and shuffling from her bed. She turned around and jumped up as she saw that Max had woken up.

"Fuck! Wh-where am I?" Max spoke weakly, shaking her head to get rid of the confusion.

"Y-you're in my room," Kate responded with a warm smile, "I-I brought you here, because your door was locked and…"

"It's okay…uhm…anyway, thanks for taking care of me." Max replied and stretched her limbs with a groan, revealing a part of her belly, which made Kate's heart skip a beat.

"N-no pr-problem…uh…"

Another uncomfortable moment of silence occurred while Max got up and put on her dirty shoes again.

"Well," she then said, gazing a bit shyly at Kate, "I…uh…I better get going and…"

Not able to endure this intense tension inside, Kate jumped forward and took her crush into a tight embrace, which made Max gasp and open her eyes widely in surprise.

"Take care, okay?" the blonde said, backing away a step. Her gaze was now fixed on her nervously fumbling hands. "I-I overheard Victoria and Taylor this morning. They plan t-to bully you, like…like they did me with that video a-and I…I don't want that, because you're so nice and don't deserve something like this."

Right away, Max glanced at Kate with a frown, but it wasn't because of the fact that Victoria wanted to bully her. No. She already knew that it would only be a matter of time until this bitch with the pixie-cut would try something like this. But hearing that, additionally to Jefferson's creepy drug-photo-session, poor Kate Marsh had already become a victim of them as well, pissed her off pretty bad. "What video?"

"The…the video that shows me, kissing some strangers. E-everybody has seen it by now and…and they're making fun of me, c-call me a slut, and…"

Suddenly, Kate broke down into tears, burying her face in her hands as her body got shaken by hard sobs. "I…I don't even know when…when this happened and…and I'd never do something like this. They…they drugged me, Max. They just drugged me."

A new emotion emerged from inside of her as Max had to watch the blonde's breakdown. Was it pity or even empathy? To her own surprise, Max felt the need to hug the crying girl in front of her and did it right away, even rocking her softly.

"I'm so sorry, Kate!" she said quietly, which made Kate digging her fingers deep into Max's hoodie as she intensified the hug. And once more a feeling occurred and flooded the freckled girl's mind, but this time she knew what it was, which startled her so much that she broke the embrace.

"It's…it's okay, Max. I-I'm about to get used to it."

"No!" Max interrupted her sternly, turning around to leave, but glanced at the Christian girl one more time. "You don't deserve this! Nobody does!"

"Wait!" Kate called out and stopped Max before she could close the door behind her, "What're you up to?"

"I'm gonna put an end to all this bullying, once and for all!"

And then, she was gone. Just right now Kate recalled that she was supposed to give Max Chloe's number and wanted to chase after her, but then decided against it, because, why give your competition an advantage?

Still entirely overwhelmed by the high amount of contact she just had with Max, Kate tried to calm down and distract herself with some more drawing. But as much as she wanted to, the blonde only managed to scribble some hearts and a faint picture of her crush. Eventually, she dropped the pen and turned towards her bed, stood up and approached it. For some moments Kate simply gazed at the spot, where Max had lain ten minutes ago.

As she touched the linen and let her hand wander under the cover, she could feel the remnant warmth of her crush. Now the heat inside her tummy increased even more. Biting her bottom lip, Kate lay down onto her bed, dug her face into the matrass and took a deep inhale.

' _Her scent, I can still smell it!'_

Now her desire for Max was about to reach formerly unknown heights. The girl began to inhale some more, while at the same time her hand moved into the thighs and began to massage her nether regions.

She imagined how Max would still be in bed with her. How it would feel to touch her. She recalled the piece of pale stomach she saw as Max had stretched. She wished for a kiss. She wished to be pleased by Max and to please her.

Quiet, soft moans were now chiming through Kate's room, getting more and more intense with every passing second, until they peaked into a high-pitched groaning.

Breathing heavily, Kate Marsh lied in her bed for some time, not moving. After some time the blonde finally turned on her back. Her face was now a bit sweaty and deep blushed and her into a bun styled hair a bit messed up. For some time she gazed at her clammy right hand, which she'd just taken out of her thighs, as if she was surprised about what just happened. But she didn't regret it. Kate simply wiped her hand clean on the sheets and then clenched it around the golden cross that hung on a necklace around her neck.

"Forgive me, Lord, for I've sinned!"

* * *

' _I need to stop this!'_ thought Max as the hot water of the shower ran over her naked body. _'Chloe, Kate and so many others. They all get bullied and nobody gives a shit about it. Dammit, Wells actually even blamed everything on Chloe. He made her the bad person, albeit she didn't do anything wrong. And Kate…she needs help, but nobody cares. How can such a video go viral without anybody doing something against it; without giving her support?'_

Max then opened her eyes and glimpsed at her right hand.

' _Maybe I'm the only one who has the powers to stop this. I need to protect Chloe and…and Kate, even if I have to kill each and every one of those fuckers!'_

* * *

"Ugh, I don't get it," said Victoria as she was walking through the school's hallway, flanked by her minions Courtney and Taylor, "Mark was never sick before and especially today, when I want to make a move on him, he doesn't show up."

"Maybe he got the flu or something." Courtney, the girl with the black-purple dyed hair stated, receiving a giggle by Taylor.

"Yeah, you should visit him and…y'know, take _care_ that he gets well, soon." the long-haired blonde then added with a wink, before she changed the topic. "By the way, did you already ask Nathan to get the stuff for this Caulfield bitch?"

"Yeah, he'll have it by tomorrow so that we can set the trap for her at the next party." Victoria answered as the girls had reached their lockers. The Queen-Bee opened hers and exchanged her recent books for some others, which she needed to do some homework. Suddenly, she realized that out of nowhere a folded piece of paper laid right in her locker. With a frown she unfolded and read the with a computer written message.

 _I know what you did to Kate Marsh and I got a lot of evidence! Meet me on the roof of the dorms at 5 pm. Alone!_

 _P.S.: If you tell anyone about this, I'm going to bust your ass, bitch!_

"Shit!" she muttered, her gaze still fixed on the piece of paper.

"Hey Vic, something wrong?" Taylor immediately asked, startling Victoria a bit.

"Wh-what?"

"Are. You. Okay?"

For a short moment, Victoria gazed at her friend, divided if she should say something or not, but as she looked at the message once more, some new scribbled lines had appeared on it.

 _I AM WATCHING YOU!_

And then, the note disappeared in thin air, like it never had existed. Now entirely freaked out, Victoria closed her locker and left, completely ignoring her friends. She needed to get a free head, because someone was playing a fucked up psycho game with her, and that with success and that royally pissed her off.

' _I need to know who's playing with me and then make them pay for it. And there's only one way to do so!'_

* * *

' _Boring…boring…boring…already seen it…not gay enough…Blech! Do people really get off, when a woman gets fucked by a horse?!'_ thought Chloe as she's browsing for some online porn on her computer. She only wore some bluish panties and a rather lose top. _'Maybe I should skip the masturbation today and do something else, 'cause I'm so not getting in mood right now.'_

"CHLOE!" her step-father's voice then chimed loudly from downstairs, "Stop blocking our entire internet with your darn smut movies! Some people have some serious work to do!"

"You're just trying to wank yourself one too, asshole!" Chloe yelled back and turned off her laptop. She then lay down on her bed and lighted a joint, trying to beat down some time. For the last hours, all she'd done was to look at her phone, waiting for a call from Max or even Kate, but it hadn't happened so far.

' _Dammit, why's Max not calling? I really need to talk with that cute, little psycho! Ugh, maybe this Kate's just one of those other weirdos of Blackhell and doesn't have anything to do with Max at all.'_

With a deep sigh, Chloe huffed out a last cloud of smoke, before she extinguished the last remains of the blunt into the ashtray and got up.

' _Well, maybe I have to try my luck at Blackwell again. I bet Max simply bored herself through classes and is now in her room, thinking about me. Gosh, I've never seen someone crushing so obviously on me and this psycho-thing she has going on…damn, that kinda makes me hot as hell. Hey, maybe she can help me to still get off today!'_

Now being even more enthusiastic, Chloe grabbed her car keys and left for Blackwell.

* * *

It was now late afternoon. After she had calmed down enough from her sinful thoughts and doings, Kate Marsh had decided to spend the remainder of the day outside, in order to enjoy the warm evening sun. Beside from the obligatory shouted insults by some plain stupid jocks, nobody else had given her a hard time. So, eventually, this day wasn't that bad at all.

' _I wonder where Max is right now,'_ she thought, lifting her gaze from the book she was reading. _'I'd love to spend some more time with her. Maybe I should ask her out for a date. I mean, what is there to lose? As much as I'm trying not to, but all I can think about is her, and before her it were other girls. I'm a sinner anyway, so why not going the whole way and live it, until the Lord will punish me?'_

"Hey, Kate!" a familiar voice suddenly chimed over the campus.

' _Damn, it's Chloe! Hopefully Max doesn't show up or else I'll be in trouble!'_

Suddenly, a waving hand in front of her face let her snap back to reality.

"Uhm, hellooo?!"

"Uh…h-hi, Chloe!" Kate answered shyly, averting the bluenette's gaze, "I-I haven't seen Max, yet. Sorry!"

"Huh, bummer! Well, I'm gonna see if I can find her anyway. See ya!"

Kate's sight followed Chloe as the taller girl walked towards the dormitories. A big wave of jealousy flooded her body and she prayed that Max wouldn't be in her room.

' _Maybe I should go with her and see how things are between them. Maybe my presence will prevent them from bonding!'_

"Chloe, wait up!" then Kate called out, following the bluenette.

As Chloe turned around with a quizzically expression, a loud, high-pitched scream chimed over the yard, closing in, until Victoria Chase's body hit the concrete right in front of her with an unearthly sound of cracking bones and ripping muscles. With a shriek and entirely startled, Chloe jumped backwards and landed on her butt, while Kate gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

Both shocked girls are now looking at the destroyed and twisted corpse of Victoria, whose dead eyes are now staring at them. In the entrance of the dorms stood Max, lowering her right arm and gazing at the body emotionlessly.

* * *

A few minutes earlier…

With angry stomping steps Victoria climbed up the stairs to the roof, almost burning inside to finally meet the person, who was blackmailing her. The door to the roof was still closed, making her think that nobody was up there and that this all had been nothing more than a stupid prank. But she couldn't afford to risk anything. Therefor, she pushed the door open and stepped into the warm late afternoon sun.

After her eyes got used to the bright light, her assumption became true. There was nobody on the roof, but maybe the unknown person was just running late. So she decided to wait and stepped closer to the edge, so that she at least could enjoy the view.

"Hi, Bitchtoria!" it surprisingly chimed from behind and startled the blonde. After she spun around on the spot she spied Max Caulfield, leaning against the wall right beside the door.

"You?!" Victoria said with a scoff of amusement.

"You look surprised to see me."

"Of course, you little cunt! Never would've guessed that you have the guts to challenge me."

For some time, both girls just stare at each other, not moving an inch. But the longer Victoria gazed into Max's blue, emotionless eyes, the more she got freaked out by it until she averted the brunette's glance and closed the roof's door to give them some more privacy.

"Okay, what do you want, bitch?"

"I want you to stop bullying other students, especially Kate!"

Lacking some words upon this proposal at first, Victoria soon bursts out into laughter. "You…you want me to what?"

But Max neither laughed nor showed any anger she just bobbed her head to one side and stated, "I don't think that I made a joke."

Immediately, the Queen-Bee's laughter died. With big, angry steps she walked towards Max, hissing in her face while she tapped with her index finger on the brunette's chest.

"Listen, you ugly bitch, I don't give a fuck what you want. NOBODY orders me around, especially a nuisance like you! Since when do you selfish emo-cunt care about others anyway? Besides, I never bullied anyone. I just showed the world that they're nothing more than pity-fuckers, like you or this Christian slut!"

As Max was remembering Rachel's very similar words at the junkyard, the feeling of hate started to emerge from within, making her voice tremble and look at Victoria with a deathly glare. "Are you even aware what you're doing to these people?"

"No, and I don't care, 'cause it's their own fault that they lack the guts to stand up for themselves. And you…" Victoria then scoffed, bringing some distance between her and Max, „You don't have shit against me! You're simply playing your stupid pity-game and I'm gonna bust YOUR ass for this!"

Now Max's anger rose even more, but she didn't yell or lose her countenance. No, she stayed calm and her voice carried a whiff of imminent doom.

"Y'know, Rachel said almost the same before she died. And do you know what she did before I let the train turn her into human confetti?"

"Wh-what?!" now Victoria gasped, her arrogance changing into horror as she became aware of what Max was about to tell her. Slowly, the blonde brought some more distance between them.

"She pleaded for her life. She begged me to safe her, but…I didn't. I watched her die and didn't feel anything about it. This is what people like you had turned me into!"

"Okay Max, I…I get it…I…" Victoria said in fear, taking some more steps back as she panicky tried to find a way for her escape, which brought forth a eerily chuckle by Max.

"Aww, what's wrong, Vicky? Peeing your pink panties now?"

"You crazy bitch! Taylor was right, you're insane!" She had now almost reached the edge of the roof. "If…if you're just breaking one little hair on me, hell will be a walk in the park in comparison!"

But instead of being intimidated, Max just arched an eyebrow and gazed at Victoria with determination.

"Who said anything about that I'm the one who's gonna harm you?"

"Wha-…" Victoria began to say with frown, but was startled as Max suddenly appeared in front of her with a loud "BOO!".

Entirely taken aback, the blonde stumbled backwards, not paying attention to the close-by brim. And then, she fell. The last thing she saw and will remember until the end was the wry, childish smirk on Max's face. For her, the fall lasted almost an eternity and she suddenly felt guilt for what she'd done to others; how she'd behaved. Her final wish for another chance was eventually destroyed as she experienced one last time an immense pain as her body hit the concrete.

* * *

Max saw how Victoria Chase went over the edge. She heard her deafening scream until a loud thud told her that the Queen-Bee of Blackwell had finally and literally bit the dust.

Without feeling any emotion, the brunette dropped a letter she'd written on for hours. Or better said, she'd practiced Victoria's handwriting by scribbling the note, then rewound and then wrote it again and again until it was perfect.

Then, she left the roof, humming _Oops, I did it again_ as she walked downstairs. In front of the dorms, many students had already gathered around Victoria's body. Some of them were already turning around as she appeared and gazed at her suspiciously.

To undo any evidence that would lead the police towards her, Max raised her right hand.

 **Rewind!**


	5. Chapter 4: The Therapy-Theory

**Chapter 4: The Therapy-Theory (How're ya feelin')**

Sternly, Principal Wells gazed at the file in front of him, reading the police report regarding Victoria Chase's death. With a deep sigh he closed the folder, opened the lowest drawer of his desk and brought forth a bottle of whisky and a mug, which he filled up to the rim. After he put away the bottle again, the Principal of Blackwell took a long sip from the alcoholic liquid. For some time, the black skinned, bald man leaned back, closed his eyes and drank some more from his mug, as it knocked at the door and his secretary cautiously shoved her head through the gap as she opened it.

"Mr. Wells, a Dr. Larson wants to speak with you."

"Thank you, Maggie!" Wells replied as he set up straight again, "Please, let him in."

With a nod, the friendly secretary opened the wooden door some more and stepped aside to let a slender man, dressed in a grey suit and carrying a black suitcase, enter the office.

"Ah! Doctor Larson, please take seat!"

"Thank you, Mr. Wells!" the doctor answered and took a seat. He then rummaged through his suitcase and pulled out some more papers and notes. Principal Wells, on the other hand, put the bottle of Whiskey on his desk again after his secretary had closed the door.

"Can I serve you a drink?"

"No, thank you!" Larson replied, letting his gaze wander between Wells, the bottle and the mug.

"Another tragedy!" the black man then began, "Within two days this school has lost two of its most exemplary students. Both were from a healthy family and on their way to graduate with a perfect GPA. But while Ms. Amber fell victim to a very unfortunate accident, Ms. Chase committed suicide by jumping off the dormitories' roof. The question here is, why?"

"That's a really good question, Mr. Wells!" the doctor stated, gazing at one of his notes, "So far, neither the students nor her parents were able to confirm any signs of suicidal tendencies or a psychosis. As far as I can say, Ms. Chase has been as mentally healthy as possible. Yet, the letter that the police found on the roof clearly states that Ms. Chase regretted her behavior towards other students and saw her final solution in a suicidal attempt."

Once more, Principal Wells exhaled deeply, drinking some more alcohol before he continued. "And what's the status of Ms. Chase's friends and the witnesses?"

Additionally to the bunch of papers, Dr. Larson took a recording device from his suitcase and a bunch of micro SD-cards. "Well, in short: her friends are shocked and the witnesses are under shock. I recorded every conversation, so we can listen to them right now, or I'll give you the short version now and a detailed report later."

For a moment, the Principal gazed at the recorder, thinking about what to do and the decided that he wanted to know truth right away.

"Let's listen to the conversations. I need to get to the bottom of this!"

"Alright!" almost cheered the doctor and stuck the first memory card inside the device, "Then let's start with the witnesses!"

* * *

Max

[Larson]: "Alright, Ms. Caulfield…

[Max]: (shyly) "J-just Max!"

[Larson]: "Okay, Max it is! (A short pause) Max, I'm gonna record our little conversation for a later evaluation. Are you fine with it?"

[Max]: "Mmh-hmm!"

[Larson]: "Very good! So, let's begin then! Your name's Max Caulfield, right?"

[Max]: "Yes!"

[Larson]: "And you were born on September 21, 1999 in Seattle, Washington State?"

[Max]: "Yes."

[Larson]: "Alrighty then! So, first question: How're ya feelin'?"

[Max]: "I-I don't know. I…I… (sobs)"

[Larson]: "It's okay, Max! Take your time. You suffered two very traumatic events in less than 48 hours."

A longer pause, filled with Max's crying.

* * *

Kate

[Kate]: (whispering a prayer)

[Larson]: "Miss Marsh?"

[Kate]: (interrupts prayer) "Yes?"

[Larson]: "How. Are. You. Feeling?"

[Kate]: (friendly) "I'm fine, thank you!" (prayer continues)

* * *

Chloe

[Chloe]: "Like shit!"

[Larson]: "And why's that?"

[Chloe]: (angrily) "Dude, I almost got killed by Bitchtoria's fucking corpse, have to sit here with a freakin' shrink and have no weed to finally space out. So, fuck you!"

* * *

Max

[Max]: "I'm…(sniff) I'm so sorry! I…I just can't!"

[Larson]: "It's okay! Let's just skip to the next question, shall we? Good! Did you know Ms. Chase very well?"

[Max]: (sniffs and blows her nose) "No, not very well. I-I mean, we had some classes together, but that's it.

* * *

Kate

[Kate]: (interrupts prayer) "Yes. Too well." (continues prayer)

* * *

Chloe

[Chloe]: (scoffs) "Who doesn't know the hella uber-bitch of Blackwell? I mean, she probably fucked half of the Vortex Club, including girls, and bullied half of the students, who weren't a member. I bet the chances are pretty high that even some teachers know MISS Victoria CHASE very well!

[Larson]: "And did you know her…VERY well?"

[Chloe]: (angrily) "Fuck, no! Are you insane?! I'm not licking every cunt, just because she has a nice booty."

* * *

Max

[Larson]: "Okay…Max. Ms. Chase left a letter in which she states that she'd bullied other students. Where you one of said students?"

Silence.

[Larson]: "Don't worry Max, you can speak freely here! Nobody will judge you. So, did she bully you?"

[Max]: "Y-yes."

* * *

Kate

[Kate]: (interrupts prayer) "Besides the thousands of insults like _bible slut, Jesus banger_ and _whore of Babylon_ , she also drugged me, made a video that shows me getting sexually abused by several guys and put it online so that it went viral. Does that count as bullying?"

[Larson]: "Of…of course!"

[Kate]: "Then, in fact, I got bullied by her." (continues prayer)

A moment of silence.

[Larson]: (curiously) "She really did that?"

[Kate]: (interrupts prayer) "Yes!" (continues prayer)

[Larson]: "Jesus Christ!" (prayer stops) "Sorry!" (prayer continues)

* * *

Chloe

[Chloe]: (laughing) "Me and getting bullied by that stupid cunt?! Ha-ha-ha, no…fucking…way! I was kicked outta Blackhell before things with that bitch got real. But I still hung out with some peeps and experienced a lotta shit that was goin' on here.

[Larson]: "Do you have an example?"

[Chloe]: "Sure! There was this girl…gosh, I always forget her name…Pia? Paula?"

[Larson]: "Petra? Petra Loewenstein? The poor girl that got raped in town last year?!"

[Chloe]: "Yup, that's the one! Just guess who filled her up, let her walk around town butt-naked and paid some Junkie to fuck her."

[Larson]: "Jesus H. Christ! If that's true, why didn't anyone tell the police?"

[Chloe]: "'Cause no cop's so insane to mess with some rich assholes, like the Chases or the Prescotts."

* * *

Max

[Larson]: "And on that behalf, are you glad that she's gone now?"

A moment of silence.

[Max]: (with a weak voice) "Y-yes!"

* * *

Kate

[Kate]: (interrupts prayer and hisses angrily) "I hope her bitchy ass rots in hell and gets fucked by Lucifer himself until it splits so wide open that even the almighty Lord himself could drive through it with his big Hummer!"

Silence.

[Larson]: (taken aback) "Uhm…"

[Kate]: (shyly) "I-I'm sorry! I'm…I'm actually not allowed to swear. Oh Lord, forgive my sins!" (prayer continues)

* * *

Chloe

[Chloe]: "Rest in pieces, bitch!"

* * *

After the device had stopped playing, Principal Wells covered his face with both hands, once more exhaling deeply.

"Mr. Wells, I know that you called Ms. Chase an exemplary student, but…if that what these three girls are saying is true…"

"How valid are their statements?" Wells interrupted the doctor, leaning closer in.

"Though it seems that they aren't able to make a valuable statement, I need to remind you that all three of them are still under shock, coping with the situation in their personal way. Ms. Marsh finds comfort in her religion, while Ms. Price falls into aggressive cynicism."

"And Ms. Caulfield?"

The doctor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to gather the right words. "Ms. Caulfield's case is entirely different. Unlike the other two witnesses, she already had intense personal experience with bullying and suicide. I'm even surprised that she's in a rather good psychological state. Eventually, all three of them could use a good trauma-therapy, but since they're all over eighteen years old, I can only recommend it. If they're willing to do it, is up to them."

Turning his cozy chair to the window, Principal Wells took one last deep sip from his mug which emptied it. After a satisfactory sigh that emerged as the burning liquid ran down his throat, the Principal asked the question which's answer was interesting him the most.

"What about Ms. Chase's friends, did they confirm the accusations?"

"Well," Larson began, scratching the back of his neck, "you should better listen to this yourself." Then, he put in another SD card.

* * *

Nathan

[Larson]: "Hello Mr. Prescott, my name is doctor Lar-…"

[Nathan]: (annoyed) "Yeah-yeah, whatthefuckever."

[Larson]: "Alright, I want to advise you that I'm…"

[Nathan]: (blurts) "Just get to the point, will ya?! I don't have time for this!"

[Larson]: (tense) "Mr. Prescott, if you wouldn't interrupt me all the time, I…"

[Nathan]: (freaking out) "Y'know what? Fuck you! Nobody patronizes me and without a lawyer, I won't say shit!"

(shuffling)

(steps)

(banging of a door)

* * *

Taylor

(constant sobbing)

[Larson]: "Ms. Christensen?"

(ongoing sobbing)

[Larson]: "Ms. Christensen, I know that this is hard for you, but I need to ask you a few questions about Vic-…"

[Taylor]: (still sobbing) "Why?! Oh, why…why did you do this Vic?! I loved you so much!" (crying intensifies)

* * *

Courtney

[Larson]: "Ms. Wagner, are you fine with the recording of our conversation?"

[Courtney]: (sniffs) "Yeah…yeah, whatever."

[Larson]: "Alright! So, let's begin, then! How close were you to Ms. Chase?"

[Courtney]: (blows her nose) "Very close. She…uhm…she kinda took care of me the first day I arrived at Blackwell. Of course, it came with some favors, but…it was worth it, y'know."

[Larson]: "And what kind of favors were those?"

[Courtney]: "Nothing unusual. Making her homework, running some errands and…uhm…well…yeah…y'know…some physical duties."

[Larson]: "Physical duties?"

A moment of silence.

[Larson]: "Ms. Wagner?"

[Courtney]: (annoyed) "Ugh, I licked her cunt, when she was in the mood for girls and Taylor wasn't around, okay?!"

* * *

Hayden

[Hayden]: (cheerful) "How close? You really wanna know how close I was to her?"

[Larson]: "I think I just said that, yes!"

[Hayden]: "Well," (claps his hands) "let's say I even went to the bottom of her…literally!"

* * *

Taylor

[Taylor]: (sniffs) "I loved her, okay?! I fucking loved her!" (sobs)

[Larson]: "Have you and Ms. Chase been in a relationship?"

[Taylor]: "No," (sniffs) "we…we only had sex from time to time, but…but it was special. I felt it. Vic always treated me special!"

* * *

Courtney

[Larson]: "Ms. Wagner, the police found a letter on the roof of the dormitories, in which Ms. Chase clearly stated that she had bullied other students. Is that true?"

[Courtney]: (huffs in annoyance) "We didn't bully anyone! We just played some pranks, that's all."

[Larson]: "What about this viral video of Ms. Marsh? Was that a prank, too?"

[Courtney]: (even more annoyed) "Listen, if this bitch gets high and goes wild it's not our fault! Besides, the school needed to see what she really is!"

[Larson]: "And that would be?"

[Courtney]: "A hypocritical slut!"

* * *

Hayden

[Hayden]: "Whoa, whoa, whoa dude! Nobody bullied anyone here!"

[Larson]: "And what about Ms. Marsh?"

[Hayden]: (scoffs) "Oh yeah! This cutie went really wild! Never tasted such soft lips before."

Silence.

[Hayden]: (nervous) "I-I mean, we practiced mouth-to-mouth during a first-aid class."

* * *

Taylor

[Taylor]: (angrily) "We didn't bully anyone! We just took the liberty to expose some of those pity-fuckers!"

[Larson]: "Like who?"

[Taylor]: "Like Kate Marsh. This Jesus slut always preaches how pure she is, but in truth she's nothing more than a whore, who tries to get some pity from the teachers for some good grates. Do you know that I even overheard her fucking herself in the showers, once?"

[Larson]: "Well," (coughs) "masturbation is something pretty normal. I guess even for religious people."

[Taylor]: (scoffs cynically) "Yeah, right! No sex before marriage, my ass!"

* * *

"Please, turn it off!" Principal Wells said, once more burying his face in the palms of his big hands. As told, Dr. Larson turned off the recorder, followed by a deep exhale.

"Mr. Wells, I was called here as a psychologist to evaluate the psychological state of the witnesses and friends of Victoria Chase and so I did. But now I'm going to talk to you as a friend and father of three wonderful kids. Ray, you can't ignore this anymore! What Ms. Chase and other members of the Vortex Club are doing borders psycho-terror. Her suicide was just the beginning. She literally was a victim of her own doings, probably forced into a role she never wanted to play."

"You're right," the bald man eventually said and stood up, I'm going to shut down the Vortex Club right away and going to start an investigation, regarding those incidents! But you also need to do me a favor, Jim."

"I'm listening."

Then the Principal leaned in, gazing at the doctor deeply. "I want you to delete these conversations."

"Sorry Ray, I can't do this." neglected Dr. Larson. "Not only that these conversations are necessary to complete my report, they're also evidence for the police."

"Then just take care that they won't fall into the wrong hands! Blackwell's reputation already suffered enough. We don't need another scandal."

"Alright, I'm gonna…what the…?!"

As the doctor wanted to pack the SD cards into his suitcase he realized that they all were gone. Almost panicky he rummaged through the still on the desk lying papers.

"Ray, the cards…they're…they're gone!"

* * *

With a wry smirk, Max glanced at the micro SD cards in her hand, which she'd just stolen from the Principal's desk. Doing so had been pretty easy for her.

Max had just walked into Well's office, ignoring complains of the secretary, the Principal and Dr. Larson. She had simply hidden under the big desk in front of their quizzically gazes and then rewound time. Like this she had been able to listen to the entire conversation and whenever Wells had found her, Max simply rewound and repositioned again. Finally, after the conversation had been over, she had left her hiding place, walked out of the office and had sat down on her chair in the secretaries' office right between Chloe and Kate. Once more, she had ignored everyone and just had rewound. To round things up, she'd taken a glimpse at the clock to know when the conversation was about to end, walked into Wells' office once more, took the SD cards, left and rewound time. Eventually, nobody was now none the wiser that she'd stolen the cards, because everybody – Chloe, Kate and the secretary – could only confirm that she'd been in her chair all the time.

' _I think the local and national press will be very interested in how shitty some students have been treated by Victoria Chase at the oh-so-holy Blackwell Academy.'_

The door to the office opened and David Madsen, head of security and Chloe's step-father, stomped in, already giving his step-daughter an angry glare.

"Why?" he said, "Why has it always to be you?"

Immediately, Chloe jumped up, facing her step-father. "What the fucking hell did I do wrong now?"

"Whenever something bad happens in this town, you're always around."

Being accused, Chloe got even angrier, now almost yelling at David. "Newsflash, asshole! Bitchtoria jumped in front of my feet, so I can barely be blamed for this!"

"I don't care! Now get your ass in the car! You're grounded!"

"What for?!"

"Stop arguing, Chloe and move!"

David was about to touch Chloe's arm as the bluenette freed herself from his grasp.

"I'm not one of your fucking soldiers!" she yelled at him and ran out of the office.

"Chloe!" he called after, but didn't follow. Instead, David cursed under his breath and then it happened: his gaze met with Max's. For almost a long minute both stare at each other, and the brunette could literally feel how uneasy he became; how a shiver ran down his spine; which, eventually, let him break eye contact by walking out of the office without another word. Satisfied with that outcome, Max sat back down, waiting for that Wells would finally dismiss them.

"Max," Kate shyly spoke to her, "when…when we're back at the dorms, can…can we talk in private? Th-there's something I need to tell you."

"Yeah, sure!" answered Max with a soft smile, suddenly feeling a comfy warmth emerging from within. But as good as it felt, it also scared her that she developed so many feelings for Kate. She would've loved to give it some more time to think, but the sudden chime of a shot prevented her from doing so. Then, she heard some shouts in the hallway, followed by another bunch of shots.

With a high-pitched shriek the secretary dived under the desk, while Kate closed her eyes, clenched her hands around her golden cross and whispered a prayer. Max, on the other hand, didn't even flinch. She simply stood up and went straight into the hall. Close to the girl's room door laid Nathan Prescott whose body showed several red spots. Beside him was a gun.

The brunette walked closer towards the corpse and then heard some sobs chiming from within the bathroom. As she opened the door she had to face a nightmare. The sobs originated from Chloe's step-father, who was holding his in the head shot step-daughter in his arms, mourning her death. As she also spied another gun on the ground, all the pieces came together.

Nathan Prescott had shot Chloe and as he tried to escape he had been shot by David Madsen in return.

Now Max was feeling deep sorrow and loss. Tears of sadness and anger rolled down her cheeks as she became aware that the love of her life had just died. Murdered by Nathan Prescott.

' _Not on my watch, asshole!'_ she thought in anger, took a few steps away from the scenery and raised her right hand.

 **Rewind!**

* * *

' _I'm gonna kill this bitch! First Rachel and now Vicky. It's her doing! Mark always said that this punk slut drags everyone down. And now she's gonna pay for what she's done!"_

Nathan Prescott stood in the hallway of the main building, close to the Principal's office. He knew that his target was in there and he had a simple plan: Follow Chloe Price until she'd be alone and then kill her.

By taking a quick look around, he made sure that nobody was in the halls. Then, he pulled a gun from under his red jacket and made sure that it was loaded.

As Nathan heard the opening of the front door and the following loud stomps, he gazed around the corner and saw David Madsen, wearing his civilian clothes. This could only mean that he was here to pick up his step-daughter.

"Damn!" cursed Nathan under his breath, already seeing his plan falling apart. But as he heard an argument in the secretary's office, plus the banging of a door and a past walking lonely Chloe Price he couldn't believe his luck, which grew even more as David Madsen didn't follow her, but left the building instead.

Now seeing his one and only opportunity for revenge, Nathan drew his gun and walked towards the girl's room in which Chloe had vanished a few minutes ago.

He now pulled out his phone and wrote one last message.

[Unknown Number]: _time 2 die, bitch!_

* * *

Chloe literally kicked open the bathroom's door and rushed towards the next functional sink. As it wasn't enough to see two people die in a gruesome way right in front of het eyes, David now even blamed her for this.

Granted, she was dealing with the situation quite okay, but still you won't forget such images. Especially he as a veteran should now this!

In need to cool down, Chloe turned on the cold water and splashed some into her face.

"Fuuuuck!" she sighed as the cool water dripped down her face. For a moment she let her gaze wander around the room, remembering with a wry smile how she'd redecorated it with her marker, back when she had been sixteen.

' _Damn, where have all the good times gone?'_ she thought, lingering in the past, which was eventually interrupted as her phone chimed. Expecting it to be a message from her mom, chiding her that she'd been rude to David again, Chloe sighed, pulled her phone out and read the text.

[Unknown Number]: _time 2 die, bitch!_

BANG!

* * *

Max gazed at Nathan with hate and disgust. A moment ago she'd rewound time and had seen how the tragedy went down in reverse. How Nathan got shot; how he entered the bathroom with blazing gun; and as he was approaching the soon-to-be crime scene, she'd stopped time. Max hadn't known that she could do that. She'd just wished for it and it surprisingly happened. Now the brunette girl literally had all the time in the world to think about how to stop Nathan from shooting Chloe, without revealing her powers or killing Nathan with her own hands.

It took her a bunch of minutes, but eventually Max came up with an idea.

' _I always loved stop-motion movies. Let's see if it works here, too!'_

Happily humming the theme from _Wallace and Gromit,_ Max began to execute her complicated and exhausting plan.

* * *

Nathan had now almost reached the bathroom as he suddenly felt a pull on his hand that made him stop. In panic the brunette boy had to witness how his gun slowly moved towards his face. With a groan he tried to fight his own limb, but as hard as he tried, it had been no use.

Additionally, his mouth opened on its own too, and the muzzle of the gun slowly shoved past his teeth. As he finally felt his finger tightening around the trigger, Nathan Prescott could only muster one last, short, muffled cry before the bullet perforated his brain.

* * *

It was like art how the fountain of blood, hair, bones and grey matter emerged from the back of Nathan's head like a gruel corona of death. Since Max had stopped time once more, she could see every detail. She would've loved to take a photo of the tiny blood droplets which where glistening in the late afternoon sun like small rubies, but an imaginary picture had to suffice.

Sighing in exhaustion and wiping some sweat off her forehead, Max went back to the secretary's office with a wry, satisfactory smile and took her seat right beside Kate again. And this was what she'd been doing for at least an hour in her awareness of time: stopping time, going to Nathan, moving his hand a bit, going back to the office, sitting down again like before, moving time forward for a fracture of a second, repeat.

Max doesn't know how much miles she'd walked to 'convince' Nathan to shoot himself, but it had been worth it. Chloe was safe and another asshole gone. Now was the moment to let time run its normal course again.

The secretary took a dive under the desk again and Kate began her prayer. To uphold her façade of the poor, shy, intimidated girl, Max wrapped her arms around Kate so it seemed like she was searching for protection. But what she hadn't thought of was that Kate now embraced her, too.

* * *

The sun had already set and only the sky's faint red glow painted Max's room into an eerily twilight.

After Nathan's 'suicide' in the halls of Blackwell, Principal Wells had decided to cancel all classes for the remainder of the week to give everyone time to cope with the 'tragic' events. Max simply didn't care. Everyone she cared about was safe for now. Sadly, Chloe had left the school before she had a chance to talk with her again, which made her a bit sad and let her lay on her bed in melancholy.

Actually, she'd planned to take a shower after the very exhausting help she had to give Nathan and wanted to talk to Kate after doing so, but she simply lacked the motivation right now.

Suddenly it knocked on the door and immediately Max decided to ignore it, if it hadn't been for Chloe's voice that chimed from the other side.

"Yo Maximus, it's me…Chloe!"

In a haste, Max jumped up, stumbled over her on the floor laying shoes, ripped off her schedule as she tried to find a hold and hit the ground face first with a loud thud.

Groaning and rubbing her forehead, Max slowly got up again, grabbed the handle and opened the door, on the other side stood Chloe, gazing at the brunette with an arched eyebrow.

"Am I disturbing or somethin'? I can come back later and…"

"No. N-no, it's fine. Come in!" stammered Max, her face blushing a bit.

Nodding faintly, Chloe walked past the brunette and let herself onto the small couch while Max closed the door again and then sat down on her bed.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Not knowing what to say, Max fumbled nervously with her fingers, her breathing close to hyperventilation and her heart almost about to jump out of her chest.

' _She's in my room! What should I say? Should I tell her about my powers? Should I tell her that I actually saved her life? Should I ask her out? How do I start Smalltalk? Fuck my shyness and social anxiety!'_

"Max!" Chloe spoke out of a sudden, startling the brunette. "I…uhm…I wanna be honest with you. I'm…well, I need a place to crash." Once more taken aback, Max gazed at the punk-girl with wide open eyes, making her talking some more. "I know, it's kinda on a short notice and you've got not much space, but my step-ass raged at me and…"

"Okay!" she quickly threw in, fearing that Chloe might change her mind if she'd wait any longer.

"Gee, uhm…thanks! I hella owe you one!" Chloe said happily, but then scratched the back of her neck. "So, uh…what're we gonna do the rest of the evening? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty busted already, though I think I could take a movie and…maybe a pizza?"

"S-sure." Max answered, just remembering that she was still smelling like she'd been run miles. "B-but I think I need a shower first."

"Oh! Okay…no prob. Just shower away!"

Not wasting a second, Max grabbed her toiletries and headed for the showers. As she arrived there, she quickly stripped off her clothes and entered the stall. The hot water relaxed her in an instant and as she washed herself she realized that her body felt very sensitive. If it was because Chloe was about to spend the night in her room or because of her new powers, she actually didn't know. The only thing Max knew though was that she felt an inner yearning for the blue-haired punk and wished for nothing more than that Chloe would await her naked, ready to take her virginity. But it was just a wishful thinking, nothing more. Reality had never been that gracious towards her, so why today?

By shutting down this lustful emotion, Max turned off the water, dried off the wetness, got dressed and quickly walked back into her room. She wanted to ask Chloe, if she was hungry, only to realize that the bluenette was already lying in her bed, fast asleep.

Not wanting to disturb her, Max just put a blanked over her crush and let her sleep. She then simply took some spare bedlinen from her closet and made herself comfortable on the sofa.

* * *

The photos of six persons were pinned on James Amber's whiteboard: On the one side Nathan Prescott, Victoria Chase and his late daughter, Rachel Amber. On the other side Max Caulfield, Chloe Price and as a new addition, Kate Marsh.

For hours he had now been staring at the board, which also contained several notes and reports, trying to make some sense out of it.

' _Three dead teenagers in less than 48 hours. Two suicides and one…accident, and every time Chloe Price and Max Caulfield had been in the vicinity. This can't be a coincidence! On the other hand they never had any direct contact with the victims, before they died. Well, I guess I have to wait for more results.'_

With a big sigh he averted his gaze from the board and went back to his desk. After taking another sip from his bottle with Sherry, James looked at an open folder that was situated on his desk.

' _This Max Caulfield went quite through a lot during her young life. Bullying, suicide attempt, psychiatric clinic and therapy. It's a wonder that she's still able to be a normal girl. Damn, now even I have my doubts that she wanted Rachel's death.'_

He closed the folder and took another one, which sent quite a shiver over his back as James read the name on it.

' _Sean Prescott, the wealthiest and most powerful man in and around Arcadia Bay. Formerly untouchable, but now he has to explain why his mentally unstable son had a gun in his possession. Hopefully we'll find some more dirt on him and can finally get a hold on this son of a bitch!'_

He was just about to turn off the lights and go to bed as is smartphone chimed. With a frown he glanced at the display, seeing two things: firstly, it was already past mid-night and secondly, it was his assistant who's calling. Expecting some more information regarding the case, James instantly said a mental goodbye to his sleep time and took the call.

[James]: "Give me the news, Andrews!"

[Andrews]: "James, I just received a call from the police. Last night, the old Prescott farm burned down and the ABFD suspects arson."

[James]: "Just give the case to Darryl, he needs to earn some experience and…"

[Andrews]: "James, they pinned down the location where the fire had started and found something under the remains of an old barn. Some kind of a cellar or bunker."

[James]: "Did they find something else?"

[Andrews]: "Not yet. They had to stop at nightfall, but tomorrow they'll be breaking through all the debris and open up the entrance. Investigators from the FD and the ABPD will be there, too. James, you always told me to listen to my feelings and I have a hunch that something big went down there!"

[James]: "Alright, drive over there first thing in the morning. If it's something big, take over the case and if not, give it to Darryl. Now get some rest! We'll see us tomorrow!"

[Andrews]: "Will do, James! I'll call you tomorrow as soon as I know more. Good night!"

After he had canceled the call, James Amber gazed once again at the file in front of him. Like his assistant, he had the feeling that something had happened at that old farm. Something that Sean Prescott probably would love to hide, before the DA's office got its hands on it, but not this time!

* * *

Max sat on the empty half of her bed with crossed legs, gazing constantly at the sleeping, blue-haired punk-girl in front of her. This was what she'd been doing for the last hours and still couldn't get enough of it.

After she'd come back from her showering, Max had tried to find some sleep too, but Chloe's sheer presence had prevented her from doing so. At first, she had just watched her from her couch. Then, she'd stood up and closed in, more and more. It was like an invisible, strong force had pulled her closer.

For the last thirty minutes, Max had enjoyed Chloe's characteristic scent and now she was thinking about to touch her. Beside the comforting hug at the junkyard and the touch on Chloe's chest in the bathroom, Max hadn't had the chance to touch her crush.

' _I need to do it! My longing's too strong!'_ she thought and stretched out her hand. Her heartrate increased with every inch her fingers came closer to the blunette's skin. Max could now feel the warmth Chloe's body radiated and with it, the warmth in Max's belly began to become a hot, tickling sensation. Eventually, her fingertips made contact with Chloe's left shoulder and Max's breathing immediately stopped.

' _I'm…I'm touching her!'_

Slowly, the young brunette's fingers started to explore the unknown territory almost on their own, cautiously following the lines of Chloe's tattoo.

Suddenly, the bluenette squirmed and groaned under the soft touches and turned drowsily towards Max, her eyes half closed and her voice heavy.

"Mmh…M-Max? Wh-what…what're ya doin'? Somethin' wrong?"

"I-I'm so sorry!" Max spoke with a weak, nervously trembling voice. "I…I just couldn't endure it anymore! You're so beautiful!"

She almost expected the bluenette to move away from her touches and slap her silly, but instead, Chloe just got up a bit and gazed at her with a frown.

"But you know it's kinda creepy, right?"

"I know, but…"

Max now brushed more intensively over Chloe's arm.

"…your skin is so soft and perfect, and your hair…"

She now combed through her blue hair and felt how Chloe relaxed more and more.

"…I like the color, both the blue and the strawberry-blond under it. And your eyes…"

Her hands brushed over Chloe's cheek, which let the punk-girl exhale a shaking breath of excitement.

"The first time I saw them, I got lost in their deep blue color. And your lips…"

Max's thumb now stroke softly over Chloe's red lips and this time she couldn't suppress a soft moan.

"…gosh, I'd love to kiss those."

This time it was Chloe's hand which cupped Max's freckled cheek softly and surprised her so much that she almost backed away, but as the bluenette reached around the back of her neck, she pulled her closer in, whispering softly into her face.

"Then fucking kiss me, you cute, little psycho-goop!"

Very softly their lips touched, it was merely a brush, but soon the kisses intensified. At this very moment Max felt happy. For the first time after so many years she felt happy again. Chloe, the crush of her life, was kissing her right now, which gave Max so much joy that she'd loved to cry on an instant. But there wasn't any time to shed tears, because Chloe was already picking up the pace, by stroking over Max's lips with her tongue, slowly forcing it into her mouth and the brunette couldn't do anything else than to do the same.

Chloe had already pulled Max even closer so that the smaller girl was now lying on top of her. Feeling so much of her loved one right now, Max's burning sensation inside turned into a wildfire, making her yearn for more. She realized the bluenette's hands on her back, how they went deeper until they were kneading her butt cheeks so much that it made Max's crotch rubbing against Chloe's. Albeit Max was already on a sex high, a small doubt seeped into her mind, letting her stop the kissing.

"Ch-Chloe?"

"Yeah?"

"I-I've never done something like this before. What…what if I do something wrong?"

"Chillax, Maxi. Just let me guide you and do what you'd do to yourself, okay?"

Closing her eyes and nodding, Max tried to muster all of her courage, ignored the unknown ahead and leaned in for some more kissing; now fully enjoying the lust that was flooding her body.

With a swift move, Chloe changed their positioning, making her sitting on top of Max now. Her cheeks already flushed, the bluenette gazed deeply at the heavy breathing girl under her with a wry, mischievous smirk.

"So, you wanna see more of me!" she said with a seducing voice, receiving a shy nod. Immediately, Chloe took off her lose tank top, followed by her bra. Right away, Max was overwhelmed by the sight in front of her eyes. But as the bluenette grabbed her hands and placed them on her mounts, the smaller girl almost went into shock.

' _I'm…I'm touching her breasts! They feel so soft and good! Oh my dog, she's so sexy and…and, fuck! I'm already on the edge!"_

While Max still tried to adapt to the situation, Chloe suddenly grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, quickly. Never wearing a bra during her sleep, the brunette's chest was now entirely exposed, making her shriek and cover her small breasts with her arms.

"Hey!" Chloe complained, "You saw mine, now I wanna see yours!"

Shyly averting her lustful gaze and blushing even more, Max removed her arms and gave the punk-girl a full sight of her mounts.

"Damn, Caulfield, everything on you looks so cute! I wonder…?"

Not finishing her sentence, Chloe moved backwards and, like a magician pulling a blanked off the table without throwing over the cutlery, removed Max's shorts with such a precision and speed that it took her some more moments to realize that she was now entirely naked. But before she could react, Chloe had already spread the stunned girl's legs and looked at her center with another big grin.

"Yup, definitely a cutie from head to toe and…daaamn, you're already hella drenched!"

Now feeling completely embarrassed and not knowing what else to say, Max just stammered a faint "S-sorry!" which Chloe answered immediately with a soft smile, closing in again to kiss her.

"For what? I'm glad that I make you feel this way! And now…relax!"

Peppering her face and her body with soft kisses, Chloe moved downwards, further and further until she'd reached Max's nether region and began to let her tongue do some magic. As she felt Chloe's tongue on her sex, Max groaned out loud. Eventually, the pleasure and her lust were so high that she came on the spot.

"Wow, that's what I call _delicious fast food_!" Chloe said with a chuckle while she wiped her mouth clean with the back of hand. But Max didn't respond to her joke. Instead she began to sob and shedding tears, which made the bluenette worry in an instant. "Max, you're okay?"

At first, the small brunette just nodded, before she spoke, "I'm so happy! You…you made me feel again and I'm…I'm just so happy right now that you made this possible. Thank you!"

"Heey!" the bluenette responded softly, brushing some tears off Max's cheeks, "It's cool, y'know. A cutie like you needs to be happy and I'm glad that I can help out! So…uhm…you think you can go another round or…"

Chloe couldn't even finish her sentence as Max immediately embraced her tightly and pulled her in for another kiss. This time she was the one taking the lead by caressing her lover's breasts and sucking on her nipples, which made the punk-girl groan out in lust. Leading one of her hands further down, Max unbuttoned Chloe's jeans and stripped it off together with her panties. In order to take in Chloe's entire beauty, Max stopped of her minute and scanned the bluenette's entire body. After a while, Chloe finally took Max's hand and guided it between her legs.

"I think you wanted to go down here!" Groaning out a loud "Fuck, yes!" Chloe obviously enjoyed as Max started to massage her nether region. "Damn! You…you're…ugh, fuck! You're pretty good at this! Ugh! Fuck me, Max!"

Right now, Max was only functioning on autopilot, acting out of instinct as she entered Chloe with one of her fingers and instantly she asked herself how it would feel to have Chloe inside of her.

"Chloe?" she asked, slowing down the treatment to gain a bit of Chloe's attention.

"Huh?"

"I…I-I wanna feel the same. Can you…c-can you please f-fuck me, too?"

Staring at the brunette with a frown upon this wish to take her virginity, Chloe needed to think for a few seconds. "Are you sure? I mean…if you wanna get off again we could…"

"I want it, Chloe!" Max spoke with determination and lay down beside Chloe, who shuffled closer to her.

Both started to kiss again and caressed each other for some more minutes; until Chloe gave Max one last glimpse, which got answered with a nod.

At the first moment, Max felt just pain, which let her hiss and groan, but soon she experienced a new feeling. The feeling of having the most intimate interaction with a loved person. She thrived on this feeling, riding it like a surfer on a wave. She closed her eyes and returned the favor to Chloe, who groaned a bit louder, until both girls were reaching their climax.

Upon being exhausted, Max and Chloe both cuddled each other very close, covered their sweaty bodies with a blanked and fell asleep in merely seconds.

* * *

Loud sobs chimed through the room and her pillow got soaked by her stream of tears she was crying.

Since they got back to the dorms, Kate had waited for Max to show up, but she hadn't. So, Kate had decided to visit her, but as she'd wanted to open her door she'd heard the familiar voice of Chloe. Being curious what had been going on, Kate had opened it just a bit, only to see the punk girl vanishing in Max's room.

Only minutes later she'd heard someone leaving the room. Expecting that Chloe had left, Kate had knocked on her friend's door, but hadn't received an answer, which had led her to the conclusion that Max and Chloe had went out. As always, Kate had tried to distract herself with some drawing, but being exhausted from that horrible day, she fell asleep eventually.

As she'd woken up again, it had been already way past mid-night. Drowsily Kate had wanted to change into her pajamas as she suddenly heard a moan from another room. At first she'd thought it would just be Dana, getting it on with her boyfriend, but then she'd heard it again, a bit louder and clearer. She knew the person it originated from, because she often wished and imagined to hear such a lewd sound from her crush's mouth. It had been Max who moaned.

At the beginning, Kate's phantasy had gone wild and she had imagined Max masturbating. Therefor, she had left her room and wanted to eavesdrop on Max's door, but it had been a big mistake. Because as soon as she'd laid her ear at the door, she'd heard another person's moaning, Chloe's moaning!

Right at this moment, Kate's little heart had been shattered into a thousand pieces. Not wanting to believe what had been going on there, Kate had stumbled back into her room, but she couldn't deny the truth. Eventually, Kate Marsh had broken down.

Now, she was lying curled up in her bed, cursing the world and everyone on it. But most of all, she hated Chloe Price!


	6. Chapter 5: No Pressure

**Chapter 5: No Pressure**

His fancy, black Mercedes hit a bump in the road as the DA's assistant Andrews, a middle-aged man with black hair in a suit, drove along a shabby side road, the surrounding landscape black and burned to cinder. As he hit another pothole and the vehicle's bottom scratched along the stony ground, Andrews cursed out loud and hoped that nothing had happened to his very expensive car.

Slowly, he approached the burned remnants of the old Prescott farm, where several vehicles and personal of the ABPD, the ABFD and the Oregon State police stood, ready to reopen and enter that structure underneath the old barn.

Right after he had parked his car and left the vehicle, Andrews straightly approached the Chief of the ABFD, Harvey Stoner.

"Chief Stoner!" Andrews greeted him with a friendly handshake and a smile since he already knew him from other cases.

"Mr. Andrews!" the man with the fire department's uniform in his early sixties answered back. "I'm glad that the DA's office could join us today!"

"We do our best, Mr. Stoner! Now, give me the juicy details!"

While both man were slowly walking towards the pile of rubble that once was a barn, Chief Stoner began to tell the DA's assistant about the recent status.

"Yesterday morning, we received a call from some old hikers that they were seeing a big column of smoke originating from this part of the forest. Since we had learned from the last big fire a few years ago, we went at it right away. Fortunately we were able to contain the fire before it could spread any further. Also, we were able to pinpoint the location where this fire had started to exactly this point, and as we searched for the cause, we found this here."

The Chief pointed at a burned out vehicle that was partially buried under some charred wooden bars. Instantly, Andrews realized that the car had been a relatively new model.

"You think that the car caused the fire?"

"Unlikely. Not from my experience and what we've seen so far, unless someone would've set it on fire purposely, this would be entirely nonsense in an old barn full of dry hay and wood."

Andrews took a closer look at the destroyed vehicle, tapping with his fingers on the sooty license plate. "Do we know who the owner is?"

"Yes," the Chief stated, "The owner is a certain Mark Jefferson, a local teacher from Blackwell Academy. The police said that he's missing since yesterday."

"Hmm…" hummed the attorney, already assuming that there's probably a link between the missing teacher and this fire.

"Chief! We're through!" one of the firefighters called out. Sharing one last glimpse, Andrews and Stoner made their way to the point where some steps lead downstairs. Some firefighters were already putting on some Respiratory Equipment, ready to enter and explore the underground structure.

"My men will scout ahead and see if we can go in there, too. It's highly probable that there are still some fires burning and that the air's full of poisonous gases. We'll stay in contact with them over the radio." explained the Chief as his men were walking down the stairs. He took out his radio so that Andrews could listen to the com-traffic of the heavy breathing firefighters, too.

" _We're going down the stairs now. Ugh, there's still debris everywhere, but we're coming through."_

" _Okay, we've reached a big door. Damn, that's a freakin' blast door…typical for a bunker. So far from what I can see, the electrical installation seems to be up-to-date. We're going inside now."_

Both, Andrews and Stoner shared another glimpse, but said nothing, because the firefighter's voice chimed again from the radio.

" _Hey, Harrold, help shoving this thing aside…ugh!"_

" _Dammit, it's still darn hot in here. Smoke everywhere. Molten metal, cracked concrete. No doubt that the fire started here."_

" _Okay, we've reached another room. I see a lot of equipment here. Everything seems to be state-of-the-art. Some cabinets. A couch. And…a pile of debris. Pretty much everything's fucked up in here."_

For a moment, there was silence. The tension was almost unbearable. Andrews wanted to use the pause to say something, as a sudden cry blared from the radio.

" _HOLY SHIT! A body, Chief! We found a fucking body!"_

* * *

Slowly and without any haste or stress Max woke up. Normally she would've been already depressed and would've had to fight with herself to even get up, but not today. Today she felt happy and full of energy! With a big smile she remembered last night, how she and Chloe had finally become one. Recalling this, a tingling sensation immediately emerged inside her stomach, telling her that she'd love to have more sex, but as she tried to find Chloe right beside her, her hand only met cold and empty bedlinen.

Max's eyes shot open and she sat up with a start, not caring that the blanked slid down from her naked upper body.

"Chloe?" she called into the room, not receiving an answer. Being worried, she stood up and searched for any hint where Chloe might have gone, but there was nothing. No message, no note, no clothes. It was like Chloe had never been there and last night had been nothing more than a beautiful, wet dream. Luckily, her sticky body told her the contrary and made her smile again.

' _I'm probably just flipping my shit here. Maybe Chloe just went to get us some breakfast or she's simply smoking some weed in a hidden corner. I better hit the shower and get ready for the day. I bet Chloe will show up eventually.'_

Whistling a joyful melody, Max put on her pajama, grabbed her clothes for the day and her toiletries and made her way to the showers. But as she returned twenty minutes later, Chloe was still gone and Max began to worry. Sadly, there was nothing she could do about it. Neither did she know where Chloe was living nor did she have her number.

Now being upset, Max decided to get some breakfast and then would think about what to do next. Coincidently, as she left her room, Kate was doing the same.

"Oh, hi Katie!" Max said with a smile, which faltered instantly as she saw that Kate looked pretty upset. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing." replied Kate, averting Max gaze as she fought down some tears. "It's…it's just what happened yesterday and…"

"Oh shit!" Max then threw in, facepalming herself, "I totally forgot that we wanted to talk! I'm so, so sorry! Listen, I make it up to you! Why don't we meet for lunch?"

"Sorry Max, but I can't. I'm spending the next days at home with my parents and sisters. It…it wasn't that important anyway and…uh…It's okay, actually. I…I know that Chloe spent the night with you."

"Oh…yeah…right," Max stammered, her cheeks beginning to blush in merely seconds. "Chloe just…she needed a place to stay and I let her sleep on my couch. But how do you know she was here?"

"I saw her sneaking out early in the morning. Y-you know that I'm kind of an early bird and…uhm, she wasn't that sneaky." Kate answered truthfully and scratched her neck, but left out what she'd overheard that night.

"Did you talk with her?"

"No!" Kate accidently blurted, but managed to regain her composure, chiding herself internally not to be too obvious. "I-I mean, I didn't. I just saw her leave. Why?"

Being a bit disappointed that Chloe had snuck out without leaving a message, Max's sight slumped and she had to sigh deeply. "She…she kinda left without leaving a message 'n' stuff. I-I don't even have her number. I'm just worried after everything that had happened."

Kate knew the truth why Max was so upset. She knew what frustrated her and understood it. But the big question was, should she help her out or not? On one side, she was jealous of Chloe and wished for nothing more than to keep her away from Max. On the other side, Kate wanted Max to be happy and right at the time, Chloe made her happier than anything else.

Eventually, Kate decided that Max's well-being was more important to her than her own ego. With a big sigh and another fought down sob she took off her jacket, rolled up the right sleeve of the button shirt and showed Max the numbers on her arm, which Chloe had left on it, two days back.

"Wh-what's that?" asked Max in astonishment, gazing at the numbers on Kate's forearm.

"Chloe's number," the blonde answered kindly, with a tiny undertone of bitterness, "She gave it to me two days back, when you were taking a hike in the woods. I wanted to give it to you, but…I forgot it."

Immediately, Max closed in and hugged her friend tightly. "Thank you!" she whispered in relief, which almost made Kate lose her façade upon the closeness and the fact that she'd destroyed almost every chance of having a relationship with Max.

"It's okay," she then answered with a weak voice, a tear running down her cheek, "You're my friend and deserve to be happy!"

As quick as Max had induced the embrace, as fast she broke it again, now gazing deeply into Kate's watery eyes, because she already had heard nearly the same words from Chloe. They showed her how much Kate cared about her well-being and this was something so rare that it made Max feel a deep longing for Kate. Both simply stared at each other for some time until Kate turned around.

"S-sorry Max, but…but I need to go. My dad…he's probably already waiting for me."

Not wanting to distract Kate any further, Max took out a notebook and a pen from her bag and scribbled down Chloe's number. Then she wrote down another number, ripped the piece of paper with it out and handed it to Kate, who took it with some insecurity.

"Here! I-it's my number!" Max said with a wry smile, "If you wanna talk or just chat because you're bored 'n' stuff, call me, okay?"

"O-okay! Goodbye, Max!" Kate answered, before she grabbed her bag and a little cage with her bunny in it.

"Goodbye, Katie! Take care!"

As soon as Kate was gone, Max went back into her room and called Chloe right away.

* * *

[Incoming call…]

[Chloe]: (drowsily) "Mmmmh-whaaaat?!

[Max]: "Chloe?"

[Chloe]: (still drowsy) "Max?! Is…is that you?"

[Max]: "Yes."

[Chloe]: "Heeeey! 'Sup, babe?"

[Max]: "Wh-why did you leave without giving me a sign?"

[Chloe]: (sighs) "Listen Maxi, I'm not a good sleeper. I woke up early, had a need to blaze, but no weed on me. So, I went home, medicated and snoozed in again. End of story.

[Max]: But couldn't you have left me a message or somethin'? I was worried about you!

[Chloe]: (slightly annoyed) "Geez, Max, we only had sex! It's not like we're married. Now gimme some space, will ya?!"

[Max]: (weak voice) "B-but it meant a lot to me, Chloe!"

[Chloe]: (inhaling and exhaling deeply) "Shit, I'm sorry, Max! Of course it meant a lot more, but…Ugh, just sorry for being so bitchy and not tellin' you. Listen, I'm gonna make it up to ya! How about a lunch-date?"

[Max]: "Sounds great!"

[Chloe]: "Okay, meet me at the _Two Whales_ then, high noon!"

[Max]: " _Two Whales_ at 12, got it! Can't wait for it."

[Chloe]: "Yeah, I bet. Uhm, where did you get my number from, anyway?"

[Max]: "Kate gave it to me. She forgot to give it to me two days ago."

[Chloe]: "Huh! Guess I owe her one then. Well, see ya at the Two Whales!"

[Max]: "Yeah, see ya! And…uhm…I love you!"

[Chloe]: "Uh…yeah…that's cool! See ya!"

[Call terminated]

* * *

A column of dense smoke slowly flew up into the air, dissipating more and more the higher it came. Courtney took another draft from her joint and blew out the smoke before she reached it to Taylor, who took and smoked it, too.

"I wonder if she's up there right now?" said the blonde absently as she was lying in the grass and gazed into the blue, with some clouds peppered sky.

"I don't know." answered Courtney, taking the blunt again, "Never believed in this god-crap."

With a start, Taylor got up, running up and down the place furiously. "I don't give a fuck if there's a heaven. The only thing I can't believe is that Vic would've jumped off that roof!"

"Yeah, me neither, but she kinda acted pretty strange at the lockers. Like something had freaked her out."

"But she was our best friend and would've told us if some heavy shit was going on! No, someone made her jump!"

"What?! How?!" Courtney gasped with a frown. "You mean like with…mind control or such shit?"

"No, dumbass!" Taylor immediately snapped back, suppressing the need to give her friend a slap. "Someone scared or threatened her so badly that she didn't see another way. I bet it was that Caulfield slut! This weird psycho-whore probably murdered her or something."

Giving the blonde a dumbfounded expression, Courtney stayed silent for a while before she ripped the joint out of Taylor's hand. "You should stop smoking this stuff, T, 'cause you're talking bullshit. Vic would never have given in to that cunt."

With a sigh of frustration, the blonde girl slumped onto the green grass butt first and buried her face in her hands. "But what the fuck are we supposed to do now? Just move on? Forget her?"

For a while Courtney said nothing, just taking another deep inhale from her blunt until she came up with an idea. "Y'know, T, we should give Vicky one last, big farewell-party."

"Yeah!" Taylor agreed, her bad mood suddenly gone as she heard the word _party_. "But where? Wells canceled all Vortex Club activities, including using the pool area for our parties."

Thinking about it for a while, Courtney came up with an idea eventually. "How about we use this old warehouse, Nathan once told us about?"

"Nah, it belongs to old-man Prescott and this greedy bastard won't let us party in it since his creepy son bit the bullet."

"Then maybe we should party in Nathan's name, too!"

"Ugh, do we really have to?" said Taylor with disgust. "Vic just let him fuck her to get access to the locations, money and drugs. This slimy creep wasn't even allowed to touch her."

"Yeah, I know," scoffed Courtney, "He always had to wear two condoms. But still…it's either this or no party. And remember, we could use the opportunity to fulfill Vicky's last wish and get even with this Caulfield bitch!"

"Damn, you're so right, C!" cheered Taylor, instantly hugging the black-haired girl. After breaking the embrace, both looked at each other deeply, but as Courtney closed in, Taylor just shoved her away with a hand in her face and a snarky comment. "I'm not that cheap, Courtney! Get this plan to work and I'll consider fucking you!"

And once more Courtney became a sexually frustrated minion of another bitch.

* * *

"Oh Lord, please praise this meal, which you gave us today. We want to thank you for the guidance and strength you gave our family.

Oh Lord, please safe us from evil and, please Lord, forgive our sinful daughter, Kate! She got tempted by the devil himself and needs your help! May you have mercy on her soul and safe her from the ever-burning flames of hell! Amen!"

In unison, the entire Marsh family chanted an _Amen_ upon Janine Marsh's prayer.

Hearing such hurtful words from her mother and not one little protest against them from the other members of her family, a tear rolled down Kate's cheek. Her mom just asked god to safe her from hell, but in truth she already was in hell. Her life was literally hell.

Her mom and aunt raged on her. Her dad, Richard March, ignored it, though he tried to be supportive. Her sisters, Lynn and Carla, soothed her as much as possible, but were obedient to their mother. And Max, the only person Kate had thought would bring salvation to her, was now dating and fucking this punk-slut, Chloe.

Just remembering all this, Kate couldn't suppress her tears anymore.

"E-excuse me!" she spoke quietly with a trembling voice, averting everybody's gaze and headed towards the nearest bathroom. There, she locked the door, embraced her body and broke down with heavy sobs.

Everything had lost sense to her. Nobody cared about her. She was alone and without any hope to leave this very much alive nightmare. So, Kate decided to put an end to it by herself. How? She didn't know, yet. But she would find a way, eventually. What, however, bothered her was that she still had some unfinished business.

Firstly, writing a devastating goodbye-letter in which she would rage and point fingers at everyone who had done this to her; who literally forced her to do it. And secondly, telling Max about her feelings. She had nothing to lose anymore, so why being afraid of a _No_? Max was obviously gay and had already given her some signs that there was something more between them then just a plain friendship. But the only thing to find out their status was to take every bit of courage and ask her out.

Her heart now thumping out of nervousness upon the hard task ahead, Kate left the bathroom, walked straight into her room and took her phone. She unlocked it with trembling hands, brought forth the sheet of paper with Max's number on it, dialed and pressed the call-button after one last deep inhale.

* * *

If you want action, variety and a stressful life, you'd move to the big city. If you want boredom, monotony and a steady life, you hit a town like Arcadia Bay.

Max already knew the big city; how it could change somebody. So, living now in a small town, where you only see handful of persons at one time in the center, was something entirely new to her. Not that she complained, since she hated other people anyway.

Nervously she gazed at her phone to check the time…again…every minute for almost half an hour now. It was already way past 12, and Chloe nowhere to be seen. Realizing that her loved one would probably be late again and her stomach was already rebelling against its emptiness, Max decided to enter the diner and get some food.

The diner was – at least in the eyes of a city-girl – pure standard and a bit shabby. Yet, the food was delicious and so Max gave it a thumbs-up, besides that once she had hopped to catch some sort of food poisoning and would die from it.

' _Death by yummy food, so tragic yet so satisfying!'_ thought Max with a wry smile as she took a seat in a booth that was as far away from other people as possible.

"If you're lookin' for trouble, then you're at the wrong place, missy!" a female voice said right beside her.

Being spoken to in such a chiding tone, Max turned her head towards the blonde waitress with a agitated glare, but as soon as she realized that it was Chloe's mother she changed back into her shyness-mode.

"I-I don't wanna cause any trouble, ma'am!"

Arching an eyebrow as she's confronted with so much timidity, Joyce chided herself for being so bold towards this poor girl, sighed and relaxed a bit. "I'm sorry, kid! If you have to handle a rebellious daughter like Chloe, you tend to get edgy around teenagers. Again, sorry and welcome to the Two Whales! What can I get ya?"

"She takes the Two-Whales-Special and I'll have the same! My treat!" Chloe threw in as she approached the booth and jumped smoothly onto her seat, entirely ignoring her mom.

"Speaking of the devil!" Joyce commented dryly, one hand resting on her hip. "And I bet with _'My treat'_ you mean that I have to pay for it with my salary. Chloe," she eventually sighed, "it can't go on like this. You're nineteen years old and still live from mine and David's hard earned money. I still have to pay for the house and you're lazy life and…it's just too much! You spend more money than I can earn, even with all this overtime I make each and every day."

"Then maybe _Sergeant Shithead_ should put hella less money into his penis-enlargements!" Chloe shot back, now getting angry because of that topic.

"David can spend his money like he sees fit. He already said that he would help you out, if you'd just stop taking drugs and get a job!"

"Nooo pressure at all…"

As Joyce saw the rolling eyes and heard that cynically tone in her daughter's voice, she got even angrier.

"You know what, Miss Lazybones? I can understand that David doesn't want to see his money thrown out of the window for drugs, hair-dye and online porn, and I won't support this anymore, too!"

Quickly, Chloe jumped up, her eyes wide open and her voice trembling in panic.

"What?! Wh-what do you mean? You wanna cut me off?"

"Yes, Chloe, we're gonna cut you off!" Joyce simply stated with some satisfaction. "And not only that, we also want you to move to a place of your own."

"What?! Y-you can't do this! I-I don't even have a fucking job!"

"Then you better get busy and get one. For example, we need someone to do the dishes here. You can start right now!" the blonde woman answered with a victorious smirk, as she realized the lack of rebellion from her daughter. "Oh, and by the way, if you plan on making your new friend's dorm room your home, be sure that David will be there and ban you from the school grounds permanently."

Her face beet-red and droplets of tears in the corner of her eyes out of anger, Chloe walked past her mother in a fast pace and left the diner. During the whole conversation, Max had stayed quiet and had listened. On the outside it seemed like she was simply embarrassed and intimidated, but on the inside she was burning with anger. She wanted to scream. She wanted to rage. She wanted to kill someone. But right now wasn't the time for this. Chloe needed support and Max wanted to give it to her; wanted to give her a soothing hug.

"Sorry that you had to listen to this, kiddo." Joyce apologized to Max, "But Chloe needs this! Yes, it will be hard for her, but if we all work together we can help her to finally start a better life!"

"I-I understand." said Max monotonous. A cheap lie. "I'll try to help where I can!"

After earning a warm smile, a soft touch and a "Thanks, sweetheart!" by Joyce, Max got up and followed Chloe.

* * *

She felt so angry and devastated at the same time. Never in her entire life would Chloe have imagined that her own mother would throw her out of her home. Deep inside she knew that this was David's doing and her mom was simply putting her flag in the wind.

Chloe had now reached her truck and wanted nothing more but to get in and leave this shithole of a town behind. Unfortunately she dropped her keys as a strong sob shook her body. She was deeply hurt inside upon this betrayal and would've loved to scream it all out, if a pair of arms wouldn't have embraced soothingly from behind.

"I'm so sorry!" chimed Max's soft voice and it soothed her even more, though Chloe would never admit it in order to uphold her badass reputation towards Max.

"It's…it's okay, Mad Max!" she said with a sniff. "Not your fault! It's probably my step-prick's stupid idea, so that he could finally get rid of my bum."

"Chloe," Max eventually said after breaking the embrace and making Chloe to turn around, "I don't care what he or your mom is saying. You can stay in my room as long as you wish!"

"Gee, Max…uhm, thanks! I…I don't know what to say."

Pressing her index finger on her lips, Max gave her beloved Chloe a kiss on the forehead, followed by a, "You don't have to say anything!"

"Mmh…b-but I…mmh…!" Unable to speak properly with that finger on her mouth, Chloe shoved it aside. "But isn't your room too small for the both of us?"

Bobbing her head slightly to one side with a quizzically gaze, Max answered. "Why? We share one bed or, if necessary, I can sleep on the couch. It will be great! We can spend so much time together!"

"Well…uhm…that's…that's really great Max! Uh…well, we just need to get some of my stuff and then we're off!"

Having a lot of mixed feelings about this, Chloe entered the truck, Max following by sitting down on the passenger's seat. The engine came to life and both girls left for Chloe's house.

* * *

"Home Shit Home!" announced Chloe as she and Max entered the house on 44 Cedar Avenue. "C'mon, I show you my room!"

Finding it a bit strange that Chloe was behaving like nothing happened before, Max eventually shrugged and wanted to follow the bluenette, as suddenly her phone chimed. Gazing at the display, Max saw that it was Kate and immediately took the call, receiving a stinky eye from Chloe.

"Hi, Katie! 'Sup?" spoke Max into her phone with a happy voice, but was answered with trembling one.

[Kate]: "H-hi Max! Can we…can we talk?"

"Yeah, of course!"

[Kate]: (trembling voice) "Max, I-I know said this morning that the thing I wanted to talk with you about wasn't important, but…it is. It's very important! So important that I can't talk about it on the phone. We…Can we meet somewhere in town?"

"Of course, Katie! Just say when and where."

[Kate]: "There's a small tea-shop on Lincoln Drive, close by the beach. You know it?"

"No, but I'll find it. I bet, Chloe can get me there."

[Kate]: "Max…" (pauses) "Max, please come alone. At 10 am."

"Got it! Tea-shop. 10 am. Alone."

[Kate]: (weak voice) "Thank you!"

"No prob, Katie! See you tomorrow!"

[Kate]: "Goodbye…" (one last faint sob, before the call was terminated)

For a moment, Max stared at her phone with worry, knowing that something was wrong with poor Kate Marsh. But she wasn't able to give it a deeper thought since Chloe was clearing her throat loudly, which made the young brunette meet her agitated glare.

"S-sorry," stammered Max as she put away her phone, "It was Kate. She…uh…she wants to meet me in town tomorrow and…"

"Yeah…whatever. Now c'mon!" interrupted her Chloe bluntly, keeping on walking up the stairs and directly into her room, where she slumped down onto her bed, picked up a box that laid beside it, took out a joint and lighted it. "Yo, Maximus, put on some music, will ya!"

"O-okay!"

Not wasting any time, Max simply pressed the play-button on the old stereo system, only to find out that there was no CD in it. Luckily, there was a whole pile of them right beside player.

' _I bet in a stupid videogame, there would've been no CD throughout the entire room, so that I would've been forced to rummage through Chloe's personal stuff to get one and then have to use my powers to avert her rage.'_

' _I always wonder why they program such a nonsensical crap to stretch your playtime. I bet there's probably also a game where you have to gather beer bottles from impossible places to build up a shooting range, twice…nah, that's far too stupid!'_

"Uhm, Max?"

' _Shit, I'm zoning out again. Focus, Max!'_

"Yeah…sorry…I'm on it!"

"Just pick a random CD from that pile there!" said Chloe, waving with her hand like shooing away a fly.

' _Okay, let's see what we've got here…'_ Max thought as she rummaged through the pile of music. _'Typical, none of it is labeled. Well, looks like I'll have to do the old-fashioned trial-and-error-method.'_

Max picked the first CD from the top of the stack, put it into the stereo and a chilling Reggae music filled the room.

"Great pick, Maxi!" praised Chloe and hummed the melody while taking another draft from her joint.

' _I hate Reggae! It always reminds me of this fucking therapy at the psychiatric ward!'_

Quickly, Max removed the CD from the player and broke it in half.

"HEY! Are you fucking insa-…"

 **Rewind!**

' _Let's try it again!'_

Next, some Death-Metal blared loudly from the speakers.

' _Nice!'_

"Maaax! That's no chillin' music!'

' _UGH!'_

 **Rewind!**

' _Next pick!'_

This time the soft sound of an acoustic guitar chimed, making Max rolling with her eyes.

"Hey, this music must be totally down your alley!"

' _For reals, Chloe?! I may be look like one, but I'm not a fucking hipster!'_

 **Rewind!**

' _Gosh, Chloe! Your taste in music can't be that fucked. One last try!'_

Eventually, the sound of a Rock ballad filled the room and painted a faint smile on Max's lips as she bobbed her head to the melody.

"Nice pick, Maxeronie! Now come here, babe and gimme some mush!"

While Max put down her cam-bag, Chloe pressed the remnants of her joint into an ashtray and made some more space for the brunette. Both cuddled themselves now close together and enjoyed their closeness for a while, just listening to the music.

"Chloe?" Max said, having her head on Chloe's shoulder.

"Hmm?" the bluenette replied as she combed through her lover's hair.

"Shouldn't we pack your stuff or something?"

Actually, Max had almost feared that this question might upset Chloe once more, but to her surprise the punk-girl just scoffed a "Pft, why?"

Feeling like Chloe was pulling her leg, Max got up and gazed at her with a quizzical expression. "Don't you remember? Your mom wants to throw you out of the house and you wanted to move in with me."

"Chillax, Maxi! My mom likes to play the drama queen and probably just flips her shit. Don't worry, she'll calm down eventually and tonight everything's back to normal."

"I-it didn't sound like that to me."

Now Chloe got up, too and Max almost feared that she would rage on her, but instead, the blue-haired girl took her in a tight embrace and started to kiss her intensively. After what felt like years of tongue-play and gropes, Chloe backed away a bit and stripped off her top and bra with a smirk, making Max feel like she's in heaven once more.

"Say, Maxi," Chloe spoke with a seductive voice, biting her bottom lip as she tugged at the hem of Max's shirt, "How about we do it again?" She leaned forward, huffing into her lovers ear while she undid everything that was covering the brunette's upper body. "And this time…I want you to lick me into hella oblivion!"

Realizing what Chloe wanted her to do this time, Max frantically nodded, closed in and began her work on the bluenette's breast. She already knew how much Chloe loved to get a nice treat of her boobs and the soft moans underlined this. With every passing minute, Chloe's lust rose more and more so that she opened her jeans and started to give her sex a nice massage on her own while Max was busy with her mounds.

Because both girls were now entirely focused on sex, plus the loud music, they didn't hear the heavy stomps of boots which were coming up the stairs towards Chloe's room. The door flew open and in merely a second David Madsen stood in the middle of the room, glancing at Max and Chloe sternly.

Taken aback, Chloe at first shrieks out of surprise and covers her body before she started to yell.

"Goddammitfuckingshit! Haven't you ever learned to knock, asshole? I have company!"

"And I don't care!" David snapped back, "Get dressed and pack everything you need to live on your own. I'm gonna bring you to your new one-room apartment. We'll pay the rent for one month and after that, you're on your own!"

"Fuck you, dickhead! Mom will never let you throw me out of her house!"

"Wrong! It was her idea after all. Now be grateful that we don't cut you off right away and pack your stuff! And you…" Now he pointed at Max, who was still bare-chested and not giving a damn about it. She simply gazed at him with her death-stare again and once more made him feel so uncomfortable that he had to break eye contact and turn around. "Just get out of my house!"

And then he was gone. Now enraged again, Chloe jumped up, slammed her door shut and yelled a loud "FUUUUCK!". As before, she started to cry, feeling frustrated and left alone.

Seeing her like this, Max embraced Chloe tightly and rocked her soothingly. But this time, the punk-girl didn't take it with gratitude, but freed herself from the hug. "Just leave me alone!" she whimpered and laid down onto her bed.

Now frustrated upon this reaction too, Max stopped time and gazed at her love for a while, until she decided that it was time to _help_ her out again.

* * *

When David had his troubles with Chloe, he needed something to calm down from his tantrum. Actually, he was supposed to avert every bit of stress, because of his PTSD, but with a rebellious step-daughter like Chloe, avoiding stress was like avoiding getting shot at in a warzone, simply impossible. More than once he would've loved slam his fist right into Chloe's smirking face when she was giving him shit again. Lucky for him AND her, he owned a muscle car that needed a lot of attention. Repairing things had always calmed him down and had helped him to suppress the symptoms of his post-traumatic stress. Today's task for the meditating repair-session was the right-sided front bumper.

"Darn it!" David cursed as he was lying under his car, inspecting the broken bumper. He had lifted up the front of the vehicle with a hydraulic jack and had to remove the wheel, so that the bare hub was hovering right above him.

Suddenly, the front of the car dropped quickly, but stopped right before it would've smashed David's chest. However, the pressure on his upper body was so high that it pinned him to the ground and made him groan in pain.

"Hi there, David! Are you comfy?" a cold, female voice chimed out of sudden. Only able to look in two directions, David Madsen turned his head towards the probable source and saw that someone with converse sneakers was standing right beside him, though he hadn't heard any steps before. Knowing who that voice belonged to and evaluating the current situation, he decided not to chide Max why she was still in his house, but to ask for help.

"Listen, kid, I need help! I'm…I'm stuck down here and…"

Unexpectedly, Max crouched down and gazed at the injured man with such coldness that he lost his capability to speak. Let alone that Max's chest still wasn't covered.

"That was my plan, David, 'cause I need your full attention!"

"What?! Are you insane? You could've-…"

"…killed you?" Max finished his sentence with a scoff. "Yeah, I already did it multiple times before I got it right. Do you even know how hard it is to keep someone alive instead of simply killing him? And yes, I'm totally insane, by the way. But enough of this chitter-chatter! I wanna know why you're hurting Chloe so much by throwing her out if the house!"

"Again, it wasn't my idea. It was Joyce's and it's necessary!"

"Why?"

His agitation rising, David squirmed as he tried to free himself with a loud groan, but it was doomed to fail, leaving him only the option to cooperate.

"You don't know Chloe as long as I do. For years she's stuck now. Since she dropped out of school everything she does is taking drugs and causing trouble."

"That's pretty prejudice!" the brunette said with a sour expression, "And doesn't improve your chances of survival!"

Gazing back at Max coldly, too, David get's offensive. "You really have no idea! Chloe needs pressure to excel herself; to improve. Yes, it will be hard, but she can do it, okay! I know it, because I once was like her and I got that behind me by joining the Corps! And now I have a job and a life."

"You're a security guard at a school, drive a stupid muscle car and wear an ugly as fuck Tom-Selleck-Memorial-Moustache…what a role-model." She commented cynically with rolling eyes before she got dead-serious again. "Just gimme one good reason why I shouldn't kill you for hurting her!"

Where most people simply panic when their life depended on the mercy of someone else, like Rachel did, David stayed calm while his gaze became more determined. "It's true, I'm hurting her, but only because I don't know what to do. I never had any kids of my own; never had the chance to raise one from square one. I came into this family and the first thing I heard from Chloe was _'Fuck you!'_ She always provoked, never cooperated. I and Joyce were at a loss, so we let her do what she wanted to do and you see how that turned out. Believe me; I care a lot about her! I…I'm just not good at showing it. I…" Then his eyes welled up a bit, which let Max frown in surprise. "I just wish that she would accept me as her step-father; that we could be a happy family. I know it's just wishful thinking, but at least a bit of respect; one tiny, friendly _Hello_ in the morning; a simple, fucking smile, instead of a middle-finger, that's all I want."

Slowly and in silence, but without any indication of her intentions, Max got up again, and for a short moment David thought that she would release him, especially as the car was lifted a bit and released the pressure from his chest. He wanted to use this freedom to finally get up, but with one sudden move, the heavy front of the vehicle slumped down on the upper part of his chest. As the edge of the hub crushed and buried deep into his chest, cutting off his air supply, David wasn't even able to scream out his pain. He slowly suffocated because of the lack of oxygen and the blood that was filling his lungs while his limbs flailed out and his body twitched until it came to a rest after two long minutes.

* * *

Caught in deep thoughts, Max entered Chloe's room again. The bluenette was sitting upright in her bed, gazing at the younger girl quizzically.

"Did you hear that strange thud? Aaaand why the fuck are you walking around the house like this?"

Ignoring Chloe's questions, Max thought about David's words and the look she'd seen in his eyes. He had told her the truth. As much as he had behaved like an asshole, David always had cared about Chloe. Which became even more evident to her as she recalled the moment she'd found him in the bathroom, mourning Chloe's death. Maybe it was indeed the right choice to put Chloe under pressure. After all, it had taken Rachel's death to finally free Chloe from her influence and let her move on.

The more she thought about it, the more sense David's and Joyce's plan made to her. If Chloe would move to her own place and earn her own money, she'd be independent and would've more space, and maybe this was what it needed to relax the tensed up relationship between the three of them.

Having made a decision, Max whispered "I'm sorry, Chlo, but they're right," raised her right hand and rewound time, undoing her last actions.

Chloe was now lying in her bed again, crying out her emotional pain about this messed up situation. Feeling pity for her poor Chloe, Max now laid down beside and embraced her tightly, whispering comforting words. "Hey Chlo, I'm so sorry, but…maybe it's not that bad. I mean, you'd have your own place, could do whatever you want. No stupid rules, loud music and wild sex as long as we want and when we want to do it. You'd earn your own dough, save a bit and as soon as I've finished school, we could move wherever we want to!"

Upon those words, Chloe turned around to face Max, gazing at her deeply with her red-cried eyes. "But what if they just wanna get rid of me? I'm so afraid to be alone, Max!"

"Don't worry!" Max said with a warm smile, letting a brush over her loved one's cheek and a kiss on her lips follow. "If you want, I'll move in with you for a few days. Y'know, helping you gettin' comfortable. And if the place sucks, you can still spend the nights in my room."

Giving her a faint nod and a whispered "Okay!", Chloe pressed her girlfriend closer. Because both were still half undressed, Max could feel the warmth of her lover very intense, which ignited the lust inside of her once more. But this wasn't the time for intimacy, at least not if David was supposed show up soon to get Chloe to her new place. Therefor, she suppressed her longing, broke the embrace and gave Chloe an encouraging smile.

"C'mon, Chlo! Let's pack some stuff and bail!"


	7. Chapter 6: Stick Around!

**Chapter 6: Stick Around!**

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Chloe in a slight agitated tone while her hands are holding the steering wheel of her tuck tightly.

"C'mon, Chlo," Max answered, trying to calm down her girlfriend with a soft rub on her arm, "She just wants to meet for a chat, that's it."

"Yeah," scoffed the bluenette in return, her gaze still fixed on something outside the windshield, "this is why she couldn't talk with you on the phone 'bout it. No Maxi, something's hella off here!"

For a moment, Max gazed at the other girl with a frown before a slight smirk got formed by her lips. "Chloe Price, are you jealous of Kate?"

A grumbled "No!" was everything she received, which let the brunette's grin grow even wider.

"Yes, you are!" Then, she cupped the bluenette's cheek and leaned in for a soft kiss. "I love you, Chlo! Kate's my friend and if something's wrong with her, I need to help. Don't worry," She placed another tender kiss on her lips, "I'll be back in a jiff!"

Max exited the truck and headed towards the tea-shop. The town's center was full of people, who're enjoying the day and wanted to use the nice, sunny weather for a walk.

Eventually, Max reached the tea-shop and spotted her friend right away, sitting at a table in front of it. With a warm smile she approached the blond, apparently unhappy girl.

"Hi, Katie!" Max greeted, taking a seat on the opposite side of the small table. Right away as she realized how bad Kate really looked, Max's friendly demeanor was replaced by concern. "Hey, 'sup?"

"Hi Max," the blonde said with a forced smile. "It's nothing big. The world just doesn't agree with me, lately."

A pang of pity emerged from within Max. She knew how it feels when the world treats you like shit. "I'm sorry to hear that," Max spoke truthfully, grapping her friend's hand.

This soft touch; this warm hand on her own one sent a bolt of electricity through Kate's body. The inner pressure that had been built up since she had decided to tell Max about her feelings was now unbearable. Kate closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, gulped hard and steadied her composure.

"Max, th-there's something I…I need to tell you. Since I first saw you, I knew that you're special. You were always special to me and…a-and that's why I want to ask you, if…if you wanna go on a date with me?"

This caught Max entirely off guard. Yes, she thought that Kate was cute and in a way attractive. Yes, she experienced feelings when thinking about and being with her. But she never would've considered that a devout Christian like Kate would crush on girls and wouldn't try to suppress it.

Stunned, Max just gazed at her friend with wide open eyes. To be honest, right out of her stomach, the brunette would've said, yes. But her current relationship with Chloe prevented her from doing so.

"Katie…believe me, I dig you! I dig you a lot, but…"

"It's Chloe, isn't it?" Kate threw in bitterly and received a shy nod. "I overheard you the other night, y'know. Still, I wanted to be sure how serious your relationship is. Sorry for bothering you."

Frustrated, Kate jumped up and wanted to leave, but stopped as Max called out for her.

"Katie, wait!"

The blonde spun around, rage burning in her eyes.

"Why? Everything's said! You rather fuck that whore, who gives a shit about you, then someone who would give you the world."

"Chloe cares about me, okay!" yelled Max back, jumping up as well.

"And I care about you a lot! So much that I dragged you back into my room all by myself after you had fallen unconscious." For a moment, both stay silent. "Goodbye, Max!" Kate eventually spoke and walked away.

Max should feel anger. She should feel the need to kill someone. But she didn't. She felt guilt and hurt. The small brunette just fell back onto her seat and exhaled deeply. In one term, Kate had been right, what had Chloe ever given her, beside her first sex?

Kate had helped her when she was in need for it. When she needed Chloe's number, Kate had given it to her, despite that she hadn't had any gain from it.

However, Chloe was her number-one-priority. Max liked Kate, even had feelings for her, yet her flame for the blue-haired punk was burning even brighter.

"Sorry, Kate!" Max muttered, left some money for Kate's half-drunk tea and headed back to Chloe.

The bluenette was leaning against her truck, back towards Max and talking to someone on the phone. As the brunette closed in, she heard some snippets of the conversation.

"…-isten, Frank, I don't have it, yet…But…"

Then she stayed quiet for some time and Max immediately knew that something was wrong.

"Okay. Old mill, in one hour, got it! And yes, I won't be late…" Chloe terminated the call. "…asshole!"

Now that the situation was over, Max masked her worries and acted as if she had heard nothing.

"Hey, Chlo! I'm back!" she said with an unconcerned demeanor and was about give her girlfriend a hug, but Chloe just backed away, acting pretty pissed off.

"C'mon, Max, we need to bail! Got some bidness to do."

Without another word, Chloe jumped into her truck and already started the engine, leaving Max no other choice than to follow stat.

* * *

He was a busy man. Working 24/7 wasn't an exception for him. Since his ancestor's had settled down here, controlling Arcadia Bay and its citizens had been top priority. For the Prescott family, money was everything, especially power. The Prescott Foundation was the embodiment of said power. Sean Prescott was untouchable…well, almost.

For gaining so much power you had to get over some dead bodies. Ruining some peoples businesses, throwing them out of their homes or getting rid of the one or other unpleasant person was Sean Prescott's daily bread and butter.

Despite all of this merciless behavior, Sean had a weakness: his family. And in this department everything had been going to shit! His daughter had transformed into a _Miss Goody Two Shoes_ eco-hippie, trying to save the rainforest down in Brazil and his mentally unstable son had shot himself in the middle of his school. Short: his reputation suffered and he had to do everything to keep the damage at bay.

Oh, how much he had tried to help Nathan. Therapies, photo equipment, call-girls, parties, drugs…he had paid for the best, but nothing had helped. Nathan had remained a disgrace and now he was dead and therefore even more useless than before.

With some distracting satisfaction, the brunette, bulky man in his mid-forties signed a contract that robbed another family of their home. The stamp with the foundation's symbol hit the paper with a loud thud, sealing the fate of Prescott's new victims.

Suddenly, his intercom came to life and his secretary's voice chimed.

" _Mr. Prescott, here are two young ladies, who say that they're friends of your late son."_

At first, Sean Prescott was just puzzled, why two of Nathan's friends would want to speak to him? But his sense for lucrative business told him that there might be an opportunity, because most of his deceased son's friends were children of rich and influential families.

"Send them in, Sarah!" he spoke into the intercom and a few seconds later, Taylor and Courtney entered Sean Prescott's office with insecure steps. "Close the door!" he ordered his secretary, a mid-twenties woman with blond hair.

Right after the door shut close, Sean Prescott stood up, walked around his desk and leaned against it with crossed arms, scanning the two girls.

"Speak!" he commanded, causing Taylor and Courtney to wince.

Mustering all her composure, Taylor found the courage to speak to the most powerful man in Arcadia Bay. "M-Mister Prescott, sir, I'm Taylor Christensen and this is Courtney Wagner." She pointed at the black-haired girl beside her, who just waved shyly with a fake smile. "W-we're sorry for what happened to Nathan, we-…"

"Just get to the point!" Sean interrupted her harshly, signing that he was growing impatient.

"Right! So…um…me and Courtney here…" The black-haired girl waved once again. "…we're planning to throw a memorial party for Nathan to honor…"

Once more, Taylor hadn't had the chance to finish her sentence. "Yeah-yeah, just do it. Was that everything?"

Now fumbling with her fingers, Taylor needed another few seconds to form some more words. "Uh…no. Principal Wells suspended all Vortex Club activities, including using school grounds for parties, sooo…we kinda are in need for a new location and Nathan once told us that you own some old warehouses."

For quite some time, Sean gazed at the two girls with a stern demeanor and Taylor almost considered leaving, until the tall man plainly said, "5,000 dollars!"

"Wh-what?!" Taylor gasped with wide open eyes, not believing what she'd just heard.

"5,000 dollars, that's the rent for one night!"

"T," whisper-called Courtney at her friend, though Prescott could hear her pretty well, "we can't afford that! Lighting, music, drinks 'n' snacks…nobody will pay that much for a fucking party."

"But we have to!" answered the blonde with some urge. "We owe it to Vicky!"

"Ladies," now Prescott's fawning voice chimed in, driving the girl's attention back to him, "I'm a business-man and I think we can work something out, here!" With a smug smile he closed in on the two young women. "5,000 dollars for the location and I'll even deliver everything else you need."

"Uh…th-thanks, Mr. P!" Courtney said, almost feeling the need to take a step back as Sean stood right in front of her.

"Thank you, Mr. Prescott that's really gr-…" Taylor wanted to say, but stopped mid-sentence as Sean Prescott opened the zipper of his pants. With a dropped jaw, the young blonde witnessed how the man in front of her pulled out his sex and grinned even wider.

"As I said, I'm a business-man and nothing is for free!"

Both girls exchanged another gaze, but while Courtney signaled that she wanted to leave, Taylor just crossed her arms, giving her minion a deep glance. "Courtney!"

The black-haired girl understood what Taylor wanted her to do, but did _she_ want to do this for her dead friend and a prank? It didn't matter what she wanted, because before she and the blonde could react, Sean Prescott had already grabbed them by their hairs and had forced them on their knees.

"You really think that only one of you sluts is enough to pay the difference? Now get busy or the deal's off!" he said forcefully, enjoying as both started to give their bodies and dignity for their deceased friend and a prank.

* * *

The muddy road to the old lumber mill was bumpy and Max was just glad that Chloe had a truck, suitable for off-road action, because she so didn't want to end up in the middle of nowhere again. Though, with her girlfriend it would be more exciting, probably even leading to some hot sex in the woods and maybe even a nice, romantic campfire. But before her mind could come up with some more smutty thoughts, they had reached an old, wooden construction.

"Okay, listen, Maxi! Frank is a decent guy, acting kinda tough, yet he's actually nice. But his friend…" Her demeanor darkened. "His friend's hella psycho, all into violence 'n' knifes 'n' shit. So, just stay here and…"

"I'm coming with you!"

"Max…" Chloe sighed, but spared any other words as she saw the determination in the brunette's eyes. "Fine, but don't do or say anything that would piss 'em off!"

"Said the ever-raging punk!" Max mocked and placed a soft kiss on Chloe's cheek before both got out of the vehicle.

Since they were in the middle of the forest, the entire location had an eerie touch. It actually reminded Max of some old horror movies, only lacking a supernatural mass-murderer. She still had the feeling that something was off here, so she sharpened her senses, put on her shy demeanor and made herself ready to use her powers.

From the outside, the old mill just looked abandoned and its fate left to the elements. But from the inside it was more like a club house. A bar with chairs, stools and tables, lighting, an old couch and a stage, ready to use. Everything just screamed for a party. And this entire fairly shabby interior mixed up with old machinery, sawblades and long forgotten tools gave the whole package a vintage touch.

Chloe led Max to an, what seemed like, old office and after a short knock, both girls entered. The office itself was rather small, but stuffed with an old desk, file cabinets and some boxes, packed with various drugs.

Behind the desk, on a comfy chair, sat a tall man with a trimmed beard and a lots of tattoos on his arm and neck, radiating power. Another, blond man with also a trimmed beard and shabby clothes sat on the desk. Both men were giving the two girls a scanning gaze as they sauntered in.

Not wasting some time with that dude on the chair, Chloe immediately spoke to the guy, named Frank.

"'sup, Frank?"

"What's up, is you, you little tick!" answered the other man with a deep, threatening voice. His gaze literally piercing Chloe as he stood up and closed in. "You slut owe me money. A fucking shitpile of money! And I want it now!" As he had reached Chloe, the tall man grabbed the already frightened punk-girl by the collar of her jacked and hissed into her face. "Where. Is. My. Money?"

For a moment, Max thought about to intervene, but she didn't want to reveal her powers, if it wasn't really necessary. The situation was threatening, yet not dangerous as long as this Frank-guy remained calm.

"I-I'll get you the money, 'kay!" said Chloe with a fear-dripping voice.

"No," answered Frank's friend however and released the bluenette. "You have shit and that's why I want you to pay in favors." He walked back to his seat, slumped down on it and simply threw a plastic bag, containing different drugs on the table. "Bring this bag into Blackwell. The customer's name is Courtney. Meet her behind the pool. No detours! No cops! Get the job done and come back here or I'll hunt you down!"

"No need to," replied Chloe and took the bag. "C'mon, Maxi!"

"She stays!"

"What?!" gasped Chloe.

"Damon!" Frank threw in.

"See her as my little insurance for the first job. As soon as you're back, she's free. If you cheat on me, I'll slice her into kebob. Understood?"

Max and Chloe shared a long gaze and the smaller brunette could see the worry in her girlfriend's. Nonetheless, she nodded to sign the punk that it's okay and without another word, Chloe left, though Max would've loved to get at least a kiss.

* * *

"Hello, Blackhell!" Chloe muttered to herself as she parked her truck on the parking lot. She still couldn't believe that just a few days ago, life had been pretty much normal. Fucked up, but normal.

Sighing deeply, the blue-haired woman grabbed the bag full of drugs and left the truck. She knew the dealing-place behind the pool building. Hell, during her Blackwell days she had bought most of her stuff there.

To her giant displease, nobody was at the spot as she arrived. _'Stupid cunt!'_ Chloe thought and lit a cigarette to bridge some waiting time.

Minutes passed, without someone showing up. She was worried about Max and even felt bad that she had to leave her behind with Frank's psycho-friend.

After the second cig had been smoked up, Chloe stumped on the butt with a groan and headed towards the dorms with angry steps. She knew Courtney, the bootlicking, former minion of late Victoria fucking Chase. She knew where her room was and wanted to smack that bag into her face and get back to Max as fast as possible.

She had almost reached the entrance to the building as a somehow familiar voice called her name.

"Chloe? Chloe Price?!"

The bluenette spun around on the spot and frowned in surprise as she gazed into the very familiar face of an old friend.

"Steph?!"

Stephanie 'Steph' Gingrich, a brunette, lanky girl with shoulder-long hair and a beanie on her head, closed in and embraced her tightly.

Actually – Chloe realized after they broke the hug and she literally eyeballed the nerdy girl – Steph looked the same like back when she had still been a student at this school. Nobody exactly knew, why, but from one day to another, Steph had left Blackwell and Arcadia Bay. The rumors about her departure had reached from that her parents went through a bad divorce over that she had been kidnapped and murdered, and, last but not least, that she had fucked with one of the teachers.

Chloe had never believed each and every one of those rumors. Steph had had her reasons to leave that shithole and that's it. In retrospective, the bluenette had always missed her, since Steph had been the most awesome girl that had ever attended Blackwell. Not even Rachel came even close to her.

"So, how're you doing? I see your style has become…even more awesome!" said Steph with a soft smile, brushing over one of Chloe's blue stands and touching the arm with her sleeve tattoo, which sent a shiver through the punk's body.

She always had some feelings for Steph, may their be simply platonically or even more.

"Yeah," Chloe replied a bit shyly, "and you haven't changed a bit…which isn't bad!"

' _Besides that you got even more gorgeous. Gosh, look at those cute tits and that butt!'_

"Well, thanks Chloe, likewise!" the brunette returned with a smile and Chloe realizes that her friend's sight stopped at the same areas as her own. This caused the punky girl to blush a bit.

"So…" she eventually spoke, scratching the back of her head. "What's up?"

"Oh, I'm making an internship to get some extra-points for college by helping out Mr. Keaton."

"Wow, sounds kinda cool. I bet you spice up the boring acting-stuff! And…uh…it's nice that you're back, by the way!"

For a short moment, both averted their gazes in an uncomfortably silence, until Steph spoke again, scratching the back of her neck.

"Well, I think I owe you an apology for just bailing without a word, huh?"

"Why?" Chloe scoffed, "You had your reasons and that's it. No need to apologize."

"No, Chloe," Steph eventually answered, shaking her head, "It wasn't fair to leave you hangin'. I wanna make it up to you."

' _Oh, there are some_ ways _to make it up to me! If Max would be in for a threesome?'_ Chloe thought, yet tried to keep excitement and smutty ideas at bay. "What's on your mind?"

"How about some dinner?" For a moment, Chloe arched her eyebrows before Steph started to chuckle.

"Chill, Chloe! Just some snacks and a nice chat in the drama classroom, not a hot date in a fancy restaurant."

Though she was _somehow_ together with Max, Chloe never made any commitments regarding their relationship. This means, for her, dating other peoples was okay. Besides, that it wasn't supposed to be a date.

"Yeah! Sounds cool. When?"

Upon being happy about this positive answer, a warm smile appeared on Steph's face, the excitement inside of her increasing.

"How about tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night. Drama lab. It's a date!" answered Chloe with a smug smile, already starting to count the seconds.

Now feeling entirely happy, Steph embraced the slightly taller bluenette once more, inhaling one last time her scent. "Great! See ya tomorrow, then!" she spoke, gave her friend a faint peck on the cheek and continued her way to the main building, leaving an entirely stunned Chloe behind.

' _Fucking hell, she's so hot!' thought_ Chloe with a wry smirk as her sight stayed fix on the brunette's butt, before she sauntered into the girl's dorms, her mind still painting smutty thoughts. And before she knew it, she already stood in front of Courtney's room.

Recalling again why she was here, Chloe hammered with her fist against the door, but received no answer. Once more she knocked loudly, yelling "C'mon! Stop fucking yourself and open that fuck-damned door!"

Panic started to flow Chloe's entire body as she feared what might happen to Max, if she wouldn't deliver the package. She still cared about her and absolutely didn't want to have that cute brunette's life on her tap.

' _Damon didn't say how I should deliver it, so…'_

Gathering her strength, Chloe screamed out and kicked against the door in order to break it open. Sadly, real life isn't a movie and she had to bear the consequences as a stinging pain ran through her leg.

"OUCH! Fuckingdammitsonofabitch!"

"Chloe?" Kate's voice suddenly chimed from behind, making Chloe, who still rubbed her sore leg, turn around.

"Hey Katie! You've seen Courtney?"

"Uh…no. As far as I know she left with Taylor a few hours ago and hasn't returned, yet. Why?"

"Shit-shit-shit!" the bluenette kept on cursing and tried to come up with a solution. "Katie, my dear friend!" she suddenly blurted out, holding Kate's shoulders tightly while staring into her eyes. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Um…actually…" was Kate's first reaction as she tried to squirm out of her sworn enemy's tight grip.

"Great!" Chloe just cheered bluntly, pressing the bag with drug against the small blonde's chest. "Listen, give this to Courtney when you see her and give her my regards!"

Holding the bag in front of her face with merely a thump and an index finger, Kate just scrunched her nose and said, "Are these…drugs?!"

"Um, yes. Kinda. Listen, just hide the bag and give it to Courtney as soon as you see her. That's it. Oh, and I need two hundred bucks, 'cause can't show up at my dealer with empty hands, Courtney will give it back to ya!"

Kate needed some time to think about it. Well, actually it were just a few seconds, since Chloe seemed to be in a haste. And she asked herself, why should she help the person who snatched her beloved Max away from her? She rather would've loved to stick the entire bag into her rival's throat and watch how she agonizingly would suffocate on it. Yet, a more subtle plan came into her mind how to get rid of that blue-haired nuisance.

"Of course!" the blonde eventually answered with a friendly smile, went into her room with the bag and came back with the money, handing it to Chloe.

"Thanks, dude! I owe you one!" was Chloe's simply answer, spoken right before she left the dorms in a hurry.

Kate just kept standing in the hallway, the smile still on her lips. But it wasn't friendly anymore. For the first time of her life, Kate Marsh embraced her evil side, which hoped so much that her plan might work.

* * *

In silence, Courtney and Taylor drove back to Blackwell, both still in deep thoughts about what they had to endure those last two hours.

Actually, thinking about it, made Courtney almost throw up again, like she had done right after they had left the office of Sean Prescott.

Taylor steered the car into the parking space and turned off the engine. It took her another minute to finally break this heavy quietness.

"At least he gives us everything for 2,500 bucks now."

Immediately, Courtney shifted her gaze towards the blonde and gave her a hard smack.

"This was the most humiliating thing I've ever done!" she yelled furiously, her eyes welling up. "Letting an old fart quickie-fuck me from behind for some fame, no problem! Licking Vicky's cunt without getting some fun in return, totally fine! But forcefully swallowing and ass-fucking for a party and a prank was such a stupid idea, that I ask myself what a cheap slut you actually are?"

"Courtney, listen! We did this for Vicky, you forgot?"

"I don't give a fuck about you or Vicky and just hope that you'll drop dead like she did!" With these words said, Courtney jumped out of the vehicle and slammed the door shut loudly.

Walking a bit stiff, because of her sore behind, Courtney headed back to the dorms. As soon as she was in her room, she threw in two gums, because of this disgusting aftertaste in her mouth, finding a hair in her teeth. She was just about to strip off her clothes and throw them into the trash can as it suddenly knocked on the door.

The black-haired young woman expected it to be Taylor, wanting to apologize, but was completely taken aback as Kate Marsh stood in front of it and pushed her back into her dorm room.

"What the fuck?! You insane?!"

"Shut up and listen, Courtney!" commanded the blonde and closed the door, pulling out a plastic back right after doing so and presents it to the other girl. "Is this the stuff you wanted?"

Being stunned upon Kate's sudden dominance, Courtney stayed silent and shifted her gaze between the bag full of drugs and Kate.

"Where did you get this from?!" she wanted to know, reaching for the drugs, but Kate just pulled them away immediately.

"It doesn't matter. Fact is, you need them for a party and I could easily flush them down the toilet or hand them over to Blackwell Security, but…I won't, 'cause I want you to do something for me."

Thinking about her options for a moment, the bitchy girl eventually succumbed with crossed arms. "Listen, if you want me to take down that video, I can't do it. Everything went over Vicky's account and I don't have the password."

"I don't care about that fucking video. Everyone has seen already, anyway. No, I want you to call your dealer and tell him that Chloe Price ripped you off."

"That's all?"

"That's all…plus the two hundred dollars I paid for you in advance!"

Rolling with her eyes, Courtney sighed and handed the money to Kate, who, however, didn't leave, but stared at the black-haired girl with an arched eyebrow. It took her a while to get the gist, but eventually Courtney pulled out her phone with another groan of annoyance and called Frank Bowers.

* * *

She was alone in a small room that probably used to be a storage for tools or cleaning equipment. Right after Chloe had left, Damon and Frank had decided to lock Max inside here, instead of watching her the whole time and, so far, the brunette played along.

Time went by and Max bridged it by playing some games on her phone. Nonetheless, it was exhausting to wait that long in a tiny room without any comfortable furniture.

She was just about to break her Highscore as she heard some commotion outside. Always nosy what it was about, Max put her ear on the wooden door and listened to what Frank and Damon were arguing about.

Frank: (yelling) "That's not how we're doing things, Damon!"

Damon: "Oh yes, it is." (threatening) "Listen closely! I get it that you have a thing for those teen-pussies and I actually don't give a fucking damn which one of 'em you're serving. But when it interferes with MY fucking business, it gets personal! I told that punk-bitch to play ball or I'm gonna slice her little dyke-friend. She fucked me over and I'm gonna hold my part of the deal."

Frank: (calm) "Damon…that's just fucked, okay!"

Damon: "Those little Blackwell fuckers have to learn that I'm not a person who they can fuck with! And don't ya worry, you little pussy. I'm gonna do it. Just take care of getting rid of that body once I'm done! And then, find and bring me that blue-haired cunt!"

Steps were closing in and Max knew what was about to happen. She backed away from the door, her back on the opposite wall and waited.

With a click, the door unlocked and eventually opened. Damon Merrick walked slowly towards the brunette, a big combat knife in his hand.

"Well, looks like your pussy-licker doesn't give a damn about you!"

But Max didn't show any emotions or even fear. In fact, she didn't even care what Damon was telling her. The only thing she cared for was Chloe, whose life was in danger again. This means that it was time to unleash her powers!

With a smirk on her lips, the freckled girl disappeared into thin air, leaving an entirely stunned Damon Merrick behind.

Quickly, the tall man spun around and there she was again. He didn't know how the young woman had been able to do it or why his knife was in her hand now. But what puzzled him entirely was, how this small, skinny girl managed to tackle him against the wall and drive the blade through his shoulder so hard and deep that it pinned him against the wooden structure. He groaned loudly, the pain in his shoulder so immense that blackness was dancing in his sight for a moment.

"Ugh, I-I'm gonna skin you alive for this!" Damon hissed, however didn't receive a single response from Max upon this empty threat.

"Damon!" chimed Frank's voice from behind as he ran towards them, also a knife in his hand, which made the young brunette to glimpse over her shoulder before she turned to the bearded man again.

"Just do me a favor and _stick_ around for another second, will ya?" Max said before she vanished again, only to reappear with a wooden log, which she smashed right into Frank Bowers' face. The added momentum from his sprint let his nose, jaw and neck break in an instant and as the blond man hit the ground, he was already dead, blood running from every hole in his head.

"FRANK!" yelled Damon, mustering all strength to free himself with another loud groan. And it worked! The blade loosened from the wood and the tall man stumbled a bit forward, only to meet the log with his head as well, which let him lose his conscious.

* * *

James Amber glimpsed at his assistant's photos from the bunker. He had already seen a lot of crime scene pictures, but seeing a dead body was always something he hadn't got used to. With a sigh, he put the pictures back into the folder and gazed at Andrews.

"If this is Mark Jefferson, then we've got three dead students and one dead teacher in less than a week."

"And I'll be damned if there isn't any connection," the young attorney added sternly.

The DA got out of his chair and pinned a photo of Mark Jefferson on a board, right beside the pictures of Victoria Chase, Nathan Prescott and Rachel Amber.

"Two suicides, one accident and now a murder. Darryl, whatever is going on here, it's huge. But what we're lacking is said connection and a perpetrator." For a few minutes he just stood there, thinking about who would've a gain of these peoples deaths, but came up with nothing, eventually saying, "We have to tighten the net. Get into the details. There must be something we've overseen so far. Darryl," James said and turned towards his assistant, "gather a team and go through all statements and reports. I'll call the police and let them do some more interrogation on every Blackwell teacher and student, who knew the victims. Also, try to focus on this Caulfield girl!"

Out of sudden, Andrews stopped to take notes and gazed at his boss with a frown. "Why her? She's the least possible suspect."

"It's a hunch, Darryl. Trust me!"

"James," the young attorney sighed, "Just because she might be responsible for Rachel's accident, doesn't make her a murderer. You read the psychological evaluation. This girl couldn't even hurt a fly without having a mental breakdown!"

* * *

His shoulder and head hurt like hell. The taste of blood was filling his mouth and made him to spit out. Slowly and with a groan, Damon Merrick opened his eyes and looked around.

He wasn't in that tiny storage anymore, but in the main working hall of the mill. Old machinery was filling the place, unwanted and forgotten for over two decades.

Instead of being pinned to the wall, the narcotics lord of Arcadia Bay was bound to an old, wooden door, resting against one of those rusty machines.

Squirming and fighting he tried to free himself, but froze as he heard an eerie hummed melody, echoing through the hall, coming closer.

Then, Max Caulfield came into his sight, a bunch of different blades in her arms, throwing them on a table with a clattering sound.

"Nice collection you got there! Ideal for stabbing and slicing people…or whatever pervy kinks you have. But you know what's boring?" she suddenly asked, not even glimpsing at her victim. But right away she disappeared, only to turn up again right in front of Damon, who however didn't even flinch and met her merciless stare. "To kill off you motherfuckers in a simple way. It's just…so…common."

"Killing is killing. There's no difference."

"And that's what differs the artists and geeks from dumbfucks like you!" she simply stated and walked back to the table. "Have you ever been to a circus? Y'know, clowns, artists 'n' shit?"

"I know what a circus is, you little cunt! Cut me loose or…"

Though Damon tried to sound as threatening as possible, Max just stayed unimpressed, even laughed out loud. And with every passing second it grew even more insane and scarier, which even freaked out someone as tough as Damon Merrick.

Then, the laughter suddenly stopped and a dead-serious Max appeared in front of him again. "Ooh, I'm so scared right now, Mr. Tough-Guy. Look at my goosebumps!" she said cynically and punched Damon so hard in his face, that his lip raptured and his world was spinning around. In a blink of an eye the freckled girl was back at the table, picked up a heavy knife and weighed it in her hands.

"I always loved those knife throwing shows, y'know. Sadly…I wasn't allowed to play with knifes anymore after I tried to kill myself. But now that I'm eighteen and we're here in the middle of fucking nowhere…" She paused for a moment to give her victim a vicious smirk. "…let's play!"

Max took a wide swing and threw the heavy blade at Damon. Lucky for him: he got only hit by the hilt. Unlucky: it was right in the crotch, which made squirm and yell upon that intense pain.

Max, on the other hand, just said "Oopsie-daisy!" and giggled, picking up another, more slim knife. "Let's try this again, shall we?!"

This time, the blade got stuck in Damon's thigh, which made him groan in agony and caused him to let out a barrage of curses.

"Shh! I'm trying to focus here!" Max scolded and took aim again, her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she concentrated. The next knife flew in the bound man's direction, hitting him right in the left side of his belly. "See, now you fucked up my shot!"

Sighing in annoyance, Max rummaged through the pile of sharp metal on the table and brought forth a hatchet. She scanned it for a while and checked the sharpness of the head.

"Well, maybe knife throwing isn't my thing, sooo…maybe I'm more of an axe type!"

Taking a big swing with both arms, Max tossed the hatchet towards Damon. The sharp head buried deep into the wooden door…right after it had separated half of Damon Merrick's left arm from his body. But instead of just suffering in agony, he went into a frenzy and freed himself from his restrains.

"Huh!" huffed Max and tilted her head slightly as she witnessed how the one-armed, enraged man ran towards her, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

* * *

Max had anticipated a lot, but not that Damon Merrick would fall into a frenzy and pursue her. Not that it mattered to her anyway. She simply stopped time, sauntered towards him, punched him in his ugly face once more and then went up some close by stairs.

After time kept on running normal, Damon stumbled from the force of the punch, which let him run head first against wall. But he wasn't done. He simply shook off the dizziness and searched for the small brunette.

"Over here, big guy!" she mocked from high above, waving with her hand and Damon's need to kill rose even more. He wasn't human anymore, just grunting and yelling, fury burning in his eyes. The full with adrenaline pumped man reached the top of the stairs and spotted the young woman right away.

Not caring about his own life, Damon Merrick just stormed towards Max, who seemed to be stuck in a dead end. Seeing her frightened for the first time as she stood on the edge of the platform, the tall man felt overconfident. However, as he came closer, the young brunette just smirked and vanished again. Yet this time Damon had already predicted it and spun around to face her. But there was nothing. He turned around once more. Nothing! Until he heard a giggle behind him and felt a hard kick in his behind, this made him loose his balance.

Max witnessed how he fell over the edge and plunged head first into an old shredder. The rusty blades of the old machine pierced deep into his skull. And there he was: Damon Merrick, drug lord of Arcadia Bay, performing a cruel headstand, his limbs twitching one last time before they went limp.

In a way, Max had really felt like being in a circus and gave the dead man some applause. She made some mental pictures while whistling some circus music and then headed back down the stairs to grab some stuff and wait for Chloe to return.

* * *

Her truck shot with high velocity over the muddy path and more than once, Chloe had almost lost control over the vehicle as she tried to reach the old mill as fast as possible.

' _Stupid bitch!'_ Chloe thought, still being frustrated that Courtney hadn't shown up. _'If Maxi got harmed because of her, I'll kill that cunt!'_

But her worries were gone immediately as she'd reached the old sawmill and spotted Max right in front of it, sitting on a tree stump.

"Max!" the bluenette called for her girlfriend as she jumped out of the truck and ran towards her. Both collided in a tight embrace, followed by a long kiss. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Max didn't reply anything, just enjoyed the proximity to her blue-haired lover until the punky-girl broke the contact.

"Just let me get the money to Frank and then…"

"Oh, you don't have to," interrupted Max with a smile, earning a frown by her girlfriend.

"Huh?"

"Frank and Damon are gone. Guess they were bored to _death_ from Arcadia and bailed for a _better place_."

Another "Huh!" escaped Chloe's mouth as she tried to get smart from Max's words. "And what about the money?"

Still smiling, the young brunette simply shrugged. "Just keep it and I also got something to help with your job/apartment problem."

Upgrading her smile to a full-blown smirk, she pulled out a key, which let Chloe's jaw drop.

"Th-the key to Frank's RV?!" she said awestruck, snapping the key out of her girlfriend's hand. "Okay, I so don't wanna know what you had to do to get this bad boy, but I'm so thrilled right now that I'll let it slip and spread my legs for you right away!"

Seductively, Max closed in, flung her arms around Chloe's neck and pulled her in for an intense kiss.

Knowing that Frank's RV probably still looked like a pigsty, Chloe and Max went for the bluenette's truck and eventually spent the next two hours giving each other pure pleasure, while not far away, blood was dripping through the gap of some wooden boards, forming a red puddle. A brown dog in search for his deceased owner emerged from the woods, sniffed on the red liquid and then started to lick it off the ground.


	8. Chapter 7: InSAniTy

**Chapter 7: InSAniTy**

' _What's insanity?_

 _Is it a permanent status when you're suffering from mental illness?_

 _Or is it a status you achieve after entirely going bonkers? A status where nothing else matters anymore. Where you lost your purpose. Where you embrace the abyss and make everybody suffer. Where you're bathed in blood and enjoy it._

 _Yeah, I think that's it! And all it needs is a slight nudge.'_

* * *

The ringing of her phone woke Max from her slumber. Drowsily, she searched for it on her nightstand and then remembered that was in her jeans, which lied on the other side of Chloe's small apartment. With a groan she just turned around and cuddled herself closer the naked body right beside her.

"Mmh…wanna go another round, Maximus?" mumbled Chloe, already petting the brunette's back and butt.

"I don't know," she replied drowsily, enjoying the soft touches, yet not getting aroused by them. "I'm still pretty busted from my last four rounds. I think I'm gonna skip the morning sex and get us some breakfast."

Just waving with her hand and turning around, Chloe said "You do that. I'm gonna take another ten!" and fell asleep once more.

After giving her girlfriend a soft peck on the cheek, Max got up and stretched her limbs with a groan before she walked over to her clothes and started to dress.

She then grabbed her bag and left the apartment, which – even after just living there for two days – already looked as messy as Chloe's old bedroom.

As Max sauntered along the street, she remembered what had originally woken her up. She pulled out her phone and read the message from an unknown number.

[Unknown number]: _hey Max! things went shitty between us. wanna smoke a peace-pipe? meet us at the dorms.15 pm. Taylor and Courtney_

"Huh!" huffed Max with an arched eyebrow, unsure how to respond and therefore leaving this message unanswered for now. She already knew that this was probably the trap, Kate had warned her about. Nonetheless she already had thought about to let it snap and witness how the hunter would become the prey eventually.

But this had to wait until later, because today, Max and Chloe wanted to take care of Frank's RV – which stood hidden deep in the forest – by cleaning it out so that Chloe might live in that thing as soon as possible. Therefore, she first hit the grocery store to get a pile of snacks and drinks and then the close-by coffee shop to get everything for a power-breakfast.

Ten minutes later, Max was back at Chloe's one-room apartment. She hadn't even opened the door as the biting-sweet stench of burned weed crawled up her nose and let it scrunch up. At least she now knew that her girlfriend was awake.

"Y'knew what bugs me the whole time?" asked the bluenette, taking another draft from her joint while she was lying on her bed, entirely naked. "Why did Frank leave his best stuff behind? I mean, there's still enough class-A weed in his RV to fuck me up for another five years or so."

Max knew why Frank doesn't need is stash anymore, but telling Chloe was out of question. So, she simply avoided the topic by smiling at the punk-girl and showing her the food.

"Got the munchies?"

"Hella yes!" cheered Chloe, took one last draft before squeezing the joint into an ashtray and jumped up.

Dreamily, Max watched how her girlfriend stuffed and chewed the food in her mouth without any manners. Whenever a chunk of half-chewed meal fell out of her mouth, the brunette picked it up and ate it delightfully.

* * *

The bell of the small back-alley pawnshop chimed as Kate pushed open the door. With cautious, insecure steps she entered the dimly lighted salesroom. The walls were heavy shelves with safety glass doors, which made the room even smaller than it had been originally, all secured and sealed.

The room itself was parted by a almost fortified counter and a wall of some more safety glass on it. Behind it, sat the bored shop owner, reading some sort of porn magazine.

Gulping down her uneasiness, Kate closed in on the counter.

"Um…e-excuse me, sir?" she said with a thin voice, trying to get the attention of the bald owner.

"Whaddayawant?" he answered plainly, not even raising his gaze from the printed, naked and big-breasted woman in his magazine. Just knowing that the person in front of her was reading such a smutty magazine, Kate got both, embarrassed and aroused at the same time. Damn, she wanted Max so badly that the blonde received some more courage to get on with her new plan, after the first one had failed.

"I-I need a weapon," she said, receiving another question right away.

"What for?"

"Self-protection."

For the first time, the vendor eventually looked up from his mag with a frown, scanning the small girl from head to toe.

"Just knifes, sprays and batons. No guns for you, kid!" he answered and drove his attention back to the journal. "The shelf to the left. Just call me when you picked one."

Nodding in compliance, Kate approached the displayed goods behind the glass. The variety ranged from standard pocket knives over butterflies and combat knifes up to old bayonets. But one blade caught the blonde's fully attention.

"I'll take this one!" she spoke, not averting her sparkling sight from the yearned object.

The pawnshop owner just sighed in annoyance, got up and walked behind the shelf. The back of it opened and the baldy man gave the young woman a quizzical glance, signing her to show him the blade.

"The black one with the curved blade," she said, signing additionally at the wanted dagger. With a nod, the owner retrieved the sharp object and brought to the counter, Kate following him.

"This one has actually a rather interesting story, y'know," he started to tell, turning the black blade in his several times. Then, he locked the front door remotely by pushing a button, before putting the dagger into a drawer, which opened for Kate a second later. "It's said that this particular dagger has been used by a cult to sacrifice humans before the FBI stormed their hideout. Allegedly, all members got shot as they made some sort of _banzai-charge_ against the authorities."

Kate retrieved the black dagger from the drawer and unsheathed it. Darkness seemed to surround it while the blade shimmered in an unearthly variety of colors, which got reflected in the blonde's maniacal glancing eyes.

"Perfect!" Kate whispered as she already imagined how she would slowly drive the blade through Chloe's rotten heart. She actually didn't care if the legend was true or not. She just needed an instrument for her revenge. "How much?"

"Well," replied the vendor, giving the girl another deep glare, "it's a very special item with a pretty nice backstory. So…I'd say 400 bucks and it's yours!"

"What?!" gasped Kate, gazing back with wide open eyes, already seeing her plan melt away. "B-but I only got 250 Dollars."

"Such a shame!" the man only said with some fake pity. "But I'm gonna have to make a livin', here!"

Whiffing a sad "Thank you!" Kate put the dagger back in the drawer and already wanted to leave, but the owner didn't let her by keeping the shop's door locked.

"Tell ya what, girl!" he eventually spoke with a toothy grin. "Your 250 and that cross around your neck and we have a deal!"

Kate looked for a moment at that golden cross in her hands. She knew that she already was a sinner and killing Chloe wouldn't help her either. Her soul was lost forever. So, why holding on to such a useless trinket?

She turned around on the spot, ripped the necklace off her neck and threw it in the drawer.

"Deal!"

* * *

Courtney always thought about a lot of things. Most of them revolving around how to become famous without much effort. Of course, with Victoria out of the picture, things hadn't become easier, no. Taylor might be a hot chick with skills, but she had no connections whatsoever, which made her pretty useless, regarding climbing up the ladder. So, she decided to find someone else who could help her, reaching greatness or…finally use her brain and work hard.

Not up to make such a decision sober and having no classes, Courtney planned to get as high as the Empire State Building and chill out somewhere outside.

As she opened her door and wanted to leave, the black-haired girl bumped into Taylor.

"Geeze, Tay, what the fuck?!" she complained and got shoved back in her room again.

"We need to talk!" the blonde just said, closing the door.

Being remembered, how Kate Marsh had bossed her around the day before, Courtney got agitated right away, which made her sound pretty pissed already.

"'bout what? I already told…HEY!"

She was just about to unload a big rant on the blonde as she, suddenly got taken into a tight, mushy embrace, that took her entirely by surprise.

"I'm so sorry!" whispered Taylor, pulling her friend even closer. "I fucked up so badly. Please, I need you!"

Taylor's words crawled into her ears, right to her brain, where they induced a stream of intense feelings. Before, nobody in this school had ever told her that she's needed or even loved. But how could she be sure that Taylor really meant it?

She broke the embrace, gazed deeply into Taylor's blue eyes and whispered "Show me!"

At first, the blond woman was surprised by Courtney taking charge. But then, she leaned in and crashed her lips onto her friend's, sealing a new bond.

* * *

"Wow, what a shit-pile of junk!" said Chloe, standing in front of her new RV and watching at the stack of rubbish she and Max had removed from the vehicle.

"Never thought you could've such a giant collection of porn," added Max, wiping some sweat off her forehead, before pulling out her digital cam. "How about a selfie to capture the moment?"

"A selfie?!" asked Chloe with some disgust, scrunching up her nose. "What are you, a 14-year-old hipster? Gimme that!"

Swiftly, the bluenette snapped the cam out of her girlfriend's hand and took a few steps back.

"Now get naked!"

Being taken aback, Max just gasped a "What?!" and earned a shrug and a wry smirk by the other girl.

"We're in the middle of fucking nowhere and I just wanna open up my own porn collection, so…get rid of those clothes and show me some sexiness, Maximus!"

At first just blinking with her eyes upon this plan, Max eventually succumbed, telling herself, if things would go wrong, she could still rewind.

The first garments to go, were her pink t-shirt, followed by her white bra, while she tried to do it as slow and seducing as possible. Each and every step was documented with a photo by Chloe, who was licking her lips and breathing shallow as she witnessed a side of her brunette girlfriend she had never seen before.

"Damn! You're so hot, Maxi! Keep going!"

Next, Max slowly opened the buttons of her jeans, slightly moving her hips like she was performing a striptease. Although she almost stumbled clumsily as the young woman tried to get rid of her shoes and socks – which made Chloe to giggle – Max eventually managed to let drop her panties and stand there in the forest, butt-naked while Chloe captured every angle of her body.

Now feeling in the mood for more, Max also tried to use the RV as an item for the photoshoot by leaning against it. Slowly, her hands brushed over her body, eventually ending up between her legs.

"Holy fuck!" gasped Chloe, almost forgetting to take more pictures. Feeling now very aroused from this scenery, she gulped hard, undid the buttons of her jeans as well and let her right hand dip deep into her panties.

"Sexy enough?" whiffed Max under her moans, enjoying the show Chloe was now giving her, too.

"Hella!" replied the masturbating bluenette with a moan, now putting the cam on a tree stump and switching it into film mode, before she joined Max in the viewfinder and gave the device such a smutty show that it was a pure wonder, the lenses didn't shatter into a thousand pieces.

* * *

Time flies by when you have fun. This saying had always been mostly annoying for those who were having fun, killing it in the process.

Taylor and Courtney had been just about to go another round as the clock on the black-haired girl's nightstand reminded them that Max was supposed to arrive in merely a few minutes.

"Why do you wanna talk to this stupid bitch anyway?" asked Courtney agitatedly, wiping some remnant wetness off her crotch.

"I wanna lure her into safety, Sweet-C!" Taylor answered, putting on her bra. "If she thinks, we're friends now, she'll trust us."

Still having a lot of legit doubts, Courtney just sighed. "But that doesn't mean she'll come to the party and be part of a porn vid, T! She doesn't seem to be as stupid as Kate."

"Ugh, you're probably right. But what else should we do?"

Now having doubts about their endeavor as well, Taylor slumped down on her friend's bed and buried her face in her palms. Right away, Courtney was at her side and flung her arms around the blonde's shoulders, soothingly.

"Y'know, why don't we drug her here, at Blackwell and drag her ass to the party, where she'll already be awaited by at least three cocks? Logan, Zach and Hayden have already agreed to do her properly. And before this slut even knows that she has been gangbanged, it will be too late and the vid online."

With a wide grin, Taylor hugged Courtney once more. "You're a genius!" she cheered and kissed her intensively and if it hadn't been for the knocking on the door, Taylor would've eaten out Courtney once more. Instead, she jumped up and opened.

"Hey Max, come in!" she said politely, beaming at the shy, freckled brunette, who walked into the room with insecure steps while touching her left arm with her right hand.

"Th-thanks, Taylor!" spoke Max, gasping and blushing as she saw that Courtney was still entirely naked on the bed. "Uh…C-Courtney…w-why are you naked?!"

"Because me and Taylor had sex. Something you've probably never done before in your life!" snapped the black-haired girl back, crossing her arms. But Taylor was between them right away, intervening before Courtney's bad mood would ruin their plan

"See! This is why we wanted to talk to you! Vicky did some really mean things and we were a part of it. But now that she's gone, we realize how wrong we've been the whole time. And now we wanna make it up by hanging out with you!"

"H-hanging out with me?! Why?" Max replied with a frown, making Courtney almost lose her temper. But again, Taylor took the word.

"Max, if we wanna befriend each other, we should learn the one or other things about us." she said, sauntering around the shy brunette like a predator its prey. "So, how about you come to our party on Saturday? Free drinks, nice atmosphere, nice people and lots of fun!"

"Gee…uh, Taylor…I…uh…I-I don't know. C-can I bring a friend?"

Inhaling some air through her teeth sharply, Taylor put on her pity-face. "I'm sorry, Max, but it's for Vortex members only. You'd be the only exception!"

As Max still hesitated, Courtney got up in all her naked glory and closed in on Max. Seductively, she brushed with her finger over the smaller girl's cheek and jaw, whispering into her face.

"C'mon, Max! Such a party's great for meeting some new people, and if you're lucky…" She then planted a soft kiss on her lips. "You'll finally get laid that night and don't have to your own fingers anymore.

Sheepishly, Max nodded, saying a quiet "I-I'll think about it!" before she left the room.

Taylor and Courtney just grinned at each other, seeing their plab blossoming in full glory. Eventually, both girls collided again into wild mixture of kisses, gropes and moans.

* * *

The door closed behind her with a loud click. Max stood now in the deserted hallway of the dorms, a wry smirk on her lips, and listened.

She could hear the moaning from Courtney's room. Could hear how she and Taylor got off from believing that they had lured the brunette into their trap.

Well, they haven't. Max wanted them to believe it, yet she had a plan on her own, already filling in the bloody details in her mind.

Joyfully humming a random melody, she sauntered back towards her own room. Before entering it, however, she stopped for a moment and gave the door of Kate's room a short glimpse. A sudden, foreshadowing feeling flooded her mind, almost convincing her to check on her heartbroken friend.

Figuring, however, that her sudden appearance could make anything worse, Max decided against it and eventually unlocked her door and disappeared in her room.

Having done her business at Blackwell, she originally planned to pack some more clean clothes and head back to Chloe, until her phone chimed and she read the message of the bluenette.

[Chloe-bear]: _'just had another fight with mom and stepshit.'_

[Max]: _'Need some cuddle?'_

[Chloe-bear]: _'better stay away for tonight! i'm hella pissed at the world! don't wanna unload it on you!_

[Max]: _'kk. Just call or come to me, if you need some Max! Luv ya!'_

Max waited some time for a reply, but received none. She figured that Chloe never was a person who liked to cuddle when being upset. So, she just lied down on her bed and did what she was always doing when having some time alone: thinking.

She loved Chloe with all her heart and already proposed to her to just climb aboard the RV and drive away. Just the two of them, inseparable, forever and ever!

* * *

After sundown, the dark campus with its few lanterns always possessed an eerie atmosphere. Yet, this lack of light was also perfect for sneaking around after curfew, without getting spotted by security.

Being already a Master of sneaking around the campus, Chloe stood at the entrance of the main building, hoping that Steph kept the door unlocked. And, of course, it budged.

Before entering the building, Chloe glimpsed one last time over her shoulder, having the feeling that someone was following her. But after a few seconds without seeing anything unusual, she just shrugged and slowly closed the door behind her.

Knowing that the guards also patrolled the buildings of Blackwell, the bluenette used only the dimmed display of her phone as a light source and cautiously approached the drama lab upstairs.

Some flickering light emerged from the class room and as Chloe had passed the door frame, she saw at least five candles burn in the middle of it. But not for long since someone was suddenly covering her eyes from behind, whiffing softly "Guess who?"

"Steph!" answered Chloe with a wide smirk, took Steph Gingrich's hands, turned around to face her and the planted them on her butt, saying mockingly "Already wanna play kinky games?"

The smaller brunette reply was tightening the grip on the bluenettes behind and pulling her closer, whispering seductively "If you want to!"

Being crotch to crotch and feeling the warmth of each other, Chloe leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on Steph's full lips. However, thanks to the sex earlier this day, the punk-girl didn't feel that needy, wanting to prolong physical a bit more. "We should eat first and then…"

She couldn't even finish her sentence, as Steph simply said "Alright!" with a shrug, and then shoved the bluenette towards a table. With another slight nudge, she was forced to lay onto it.

"Steph, what the…w-wait…we…FUUUUCK!" gasped Chloe, which turned into a moan, as Steph swiftly unbuckled her belt, unbuttoned her jeans and pulled the entire package off in one move and dived into her friend's sex without any warning.

"Damn, Chloe, you're so wet already! Couldn't wait to do me that much?" mocked the brunette between some licks, shoving two fingers into the other girl.

Now feeling entirely on fire, Chloe just replied "Sh-shut up and fuck me!" before standing up and stripping down Steph as well.

After she had found out and been sure about her sexuality, Chloe had often fantasized and dreamt of Steph and her, having sex. Now it was a dream that came true. But it shouldn't be just some quick dirty fuck, no. Chloe wanted it slowly and romantic. Therefore, she took Steph's hands and guided her towards the slightly bigger teacher's desk and made her to lay down on it. After closing and locking the room's door, the bluenette walked slowly around the desk, enjoying Steph's sexy body displayed in front of her and letting her hand brush softly over every inch, making her squirm and moan in lust.

"Hmm…so, what should I do with such a horny gal?" cooed Chloe with smirk, already biting her bottom lip out of anticipation to have her way with one of her major high school crushes.

"Please, Chloe, stop teasing me! I want you! I want you so much!"

"As you wish!" answered the punk and bowed a bit, before taking position in front of Steph, spreading her legs further to get full access. Chloe then leaned in and started to savor her friend's taste by licking around and eventually her sex directly.

Steph's moans were filling the room as her pussy got treated by Chloe, who was now massaging her own sex as well.

In their ecstasy, both didn't notice how someone had watched them all the time and was now closing in.

Chloe just noticed it as she felt a sharp, hot pain in her back, which made her bite down hardly on Steph's clit and then screaming out in pain, the other girl joining in as well.

Another wave of pain followed then another one and another one. Her sight got blurry and she felt how life was flowing out of her body. First on all four, Chloe eventually rolled weakly on her back, blood already sprinkling her mouth.

Above her stood Kate Marsh, a bloodstained dagger in her hand and insanity burning in her eyes.

"K-Kate…" whiffed the bluenette with a weak, shivering voice, but didn't receive an answer. Just another stab directly into her heart, which ended her life, eventually.

"You never deserved her! Now burn in hell!" said Kate, shifting her attention a second later to the other, still squirming girl, who was holding her bloody crotch upon the intense agony. "And who might you be?"

As hard as she could, Steph rolled from the table and tried to bring some distance between her and the maniac girl by crawling away. But Kate eventually was faster, kneeling down beside her.

"Did you know that she had a sweet, innocent and absolutely cute girlfriend?"

"N-no! P-please! Please don't do this!" pleaded the brunette, already sobbing in fear. But Kate was merciless and stabbed Steph multiple times into her chest and neck until her gurgled screams had eventually abated and Kate was kneeling in a vast puddle of red liquid.

The young blonde gazed at the blade in her red-stained, shaky hand and licked the blood off of it with delight, before she drove the sharp dagger into her own heart.

* * *

The next morning, Max got woken up by some loud commotion outside her room. Asking herself what was going on, she got up and took a look into the hallways.

All inhabitants of the brunette's floor were gathered in the hall, gossiping, while others got questioned by the police. Only an Asian girl, who Max knew as Brooke Scott leaned against the wall, far off the group of chattering people.

"Wh-what's going on?!" asked Max, figuring that talking with a lonely Brooke might be wiser than throwing a question into this pile of cackling chicken.

"So far as I know, Kate Marsh murdered a teacher and her blue-haired prostitute in the drama lab."

Max froze immediately. Kate Marsh?! Blue-haired prostitute?! She knew only one blue-haired woman throughout the entire town and picturing sweet Kate Marsh as a murderer didn't quite fit her sight of the world.

Still only dressed in her pajama shorts and shirt, Max ran barefooted towards the main building, ignoring everyone who was calling for her.

A few minutes later, she arrived at the scene, stopping at the tape that was sealing the room. With, in horror, dilated eyes, she saw the bloodbath in front of her.

Chloe, entirely naked and covered in blood, was lying on her back, eyes and mouth wide open. Her skin paler than before.

Another naked woman, who was unfamiliar to Max, met the same fate.

And in the center of it, laid Kate Marsh, curled up and the hilt of a black knife sticking out of her chest.

A flood of tears trailed down her face as she realized that her love and her best friend were dead. It literally broke her heart and all she wanted now, was to join them.

"Miss Caulfield?" asked a male voice behind her and as she turned around, she looked at a black-haired, middle-aged man in a suit, who introduced himself right away. "My name is Darryl Andrews, the DA's assistant and I need you to answer me a few questions."

Feeling totally empty and like nothing mattered anymore, Max just shrugged and followed Andrews into a close-by, empty classroom, where they both sat down.

"Miss Caulfield, I'm aware that you were familiar with Miss Price and Miss Marsh, is that right?"

Max just nodded and stayed quiet.

"Had Miss Marsh ever given you any hints that she wanted to do such a horrible act."

Max just shook her head and stayed quiet.

"Did Miss Marsh sent you a message or a letter?"

Once more she shook her head, but this time she mustered a faint "No."

"Well," Andrews said and pulled Kate's wrapped up phone out of his pocket, "looks like she left you message on her phone."

As Max took the device and activated it, she noticed that there was no lock screen. Instead, there was a video, titled _For Max_. She loaded it and watched the events on the display.

Though it was a bit dark in the film, Max witnessed how her beloved Chloe had sex with another woman. The woman, whose body was also lying in this drama lab.

Tears were now flowing again while her lips trembled. But not out of sadness, but anger. Pure, burning hate! She felt how something snapped inside of her.

"I know it's probably hard for you to understand, but this video makes you a main suspect, given your closeness to Miss Price and how you're reacting on it," said Andrews, already waving for the cop, who had been waiting at the door. "Officer Berry here will bring you to the station for further…"

Max's figure flickered for a fraction of a second before Officer Berry's gurgling sounds and his jerking body interrupted the attorney. The Taser gun, which had originally been attached at the Officer's belt, stuck now deep in his throat, making him dance like a horrific puppet until his lifeless body hit the ground.

Taken aback, Andrews jumped up. As he gazed at Maxine, he saw pure, merciless insanity in her eyes. He wanted to scream for help, but in a blink of an eye, the freckled girl stood face-to-face with him. Andrews didn't realize at first, but he wasn't able to talk anymore, since every pen from this very classroom was sticking in his throat.

"Ssh!" shushed Max him, covering her mouth with her index finger. And all Andrews could do, was to watch the slender girl leave while choking on his own blood.

Max approached the crime scene again. A cop stood right in front of the door now as students had been allowed to enter building again. The poor man just realized that his life was about to end as the tape got wrapped around is neck and Max squeezed every bit out of him.

Now that her way was clear, she walked into the drama lab, straight towards Kate's body, ignoring Chloe's entirely.

"I'm so sorry!" she whimpered, mourning her friend's death and regretting that she hadn't listened to her when the blonde had warned her about Chloe's character. Softly, she brushed a lose blonde strand of hair from her beautiful face. A new, intense wave of despair rushed through her body again and Max only wanted one thing: taking revenge on the world and make everyone suffer!

Shutting down every bit of emotion, except pain, Max retrieved the dagger from Kate's body and gave the dead girl one last kiss.

"Hey! That's a crime sce-…" shouted a policeman, but wasn't able to finish his sentence as his head hit the ground a few feet away, his beheaded corpse following a second later.

Several students had already gathered outside the room to catch a peek on the crime, witnessing how Max emerged from the lab, bloodstained and threatening.

Once more, her body flickered and every present person went down, either their throats cut or their hearts and brains pierced.

Max wasn't running. She just sauntered back to the dorm, like making a nice morning walk on the beach…with a knife and the intention to kill everybody.

She had reached the bottom of the stairs, red droplets already hitting the ground there, and saw a security guard, who went down with a cut neck, painting the walls red as his head dropped back like the lid of a water heater.

Principal Wells had just left the office to make his morning inspection as Max passed him and left the building. The bald, black man remained in his spot, not even flinching, until his belly opened and his intestines hit the floor with a squashy sound.

Outside, only a few students enjoyed the sun. Two girls sat on the edge of the fountain. Soon, their blood was dying the water red.

On the grass, some guy was lying and listening to some music. For a few seconds, Max appeared on him, peppering his chest with countless stabs.

Some skaters were performing some tricks close to the stairs. Suddenly, all their Achilles sinews were cut and they fell hard. Who survived, got one final blow through the eye.

Having killed a bunch of other students on her way as well, Max finally had reached her floor in the dormitory. The girls were still chatting in the hallway has Max appeared. All of them gasped and whispered as they saw how she was drenched in blood. Some already wanted to run away, but those were the first one, whose blood was now decorating the white walls.

With a loud scream, Max stabbed and cut each and every one on that floor. Dana, Juliet, Courtney, Taylor, Stella…they all died by her blade in merely seconds. Only Brooke, who was still standing a bit away, was looking at the bloodbath in front of her, a puddle of urine forming under her.

"M-Max, I…" she started to plead, but her head had already slipped from her shoulders before giving her the slightest chance.

"Holy fuck!" chimed another voice out of a sudden. Max turned towards Alyssa, a chubby goth-girl with purple hair. "I knew, one day someone would shoot up the whole place, but this…is just art!" she said, gazing at Max, who, however, cut through the chubby girl's body and split it in two halves.

Back in her room, Max simply dropped the dagger and sat down on her bed, not caring that it got entirely drenched by the blood that was dripping from her slender body. Everything had lost its meaning. For her, every bit of hope had just died and death seemed to be the only solution. Yet, she lacked the motivation again.

Trying to get some final input, Max grabbed her camera, put the SD card into her Laptop and flicked through the pictures of her and Chloe, eventually ending up at yesterday.

She felt how the longing to finally take her life rose with every picture. And to give herself the final blow, she started the video Chloe had made of them while having sex.

She felt both, aroused and disgusted, and reached for the dagger, shedding some with blood mixed tears. Max placed the sharp blade on her arm, ready to cut her artery.

But then she felt something strange. A force, trying to pull her into the screen of her computer. Being curious, Max gave in to this force and let herself get sucked into the video.


	9. Chapter 8: Drama

**Chapter 8: Drama**

Everything was just a blur, confusing and without any sense. She heard noises. Quite familiar noises, which turned into loud moans.

"Oh fuck yes, Max! Fuck me!"

Chloe's moans! They grew louder and louder. Just hearing them faintly made Max sick.

"Oh my god! H-harder! I'm…I'm close…so close!"

Now some wet and squishy sounds joined the groaning. Additionally, Max felt this warm, slippery wetness on her right hand.

"I'm…I'm gonna…gonna…I'm coming! I'm COMING!" screamed Chloe and right at this moment Max's vision improved and she had to witness how the bluenette got off on her fingers, rubbing her sex frantically against her hand while leaning against the RV.

The first time she had experienced this moment, the brunette had been happy, giving her girlfriend a second orgasm in a row with her tongue right after this one. But this time, Max retrieved her hand violently and took the punk into a choking hold, as she remembered that Chloe had cheated on her.

The freckled girl now took a few seconds to make some sense out of this situation.

Somehow she had managed to travel back in time via the video Chloe had recorded. This means everything that had happened after this moment right here was undone now. This means Kate was still alive!

"Uh, M-Max…c-could you…?" urged Chloe with a weak voice, patting the brunettes arm. Gazing deeply into her blue eyes, Max reluctantly released the tight grip around the bluenette's neck, which caused her to cough and inhale some fresh air deeply.

"D-damn, Caulfield!" she gasped, "Maybe I…I kinda like it rough sometimes, but…but I'm not really into this choking stuff!"

"Sorry!" replied the brunette plainly and put on her clothes, trying to ignore Chloe instead of killing her on the spot.

"It's okay, just…hey, where're ya going?"

Once more, Max had to gulp down the need to hurt the now frowning bluenette as she turned towards her.

"I told you, I'm gonna meet with Taylor and Courtney," answered Max aggressively, grabbed her remaining stuff and walked off, back to civilization, ignoring Chloe, who called after her.

It would take Max at least an hour to reach Blackwell, so she had a lot of time to think about everything that was about to happen within the next hours.

She planned to do everything the same way like she had done before…or at least she'd try to do so, because, who remembers every detail of the previous day anyway?

She wouldn't kill Chloe, though! She would make her suffer for her betrayal, yes! Would show her true emotional pain, without granting her a soothing death.

And Kate? Max just thought that she owes Kate a big apology!

* * *

Petting the dagger in her hand with the other one, Kate watched the display of her phone. Watched how a red dot wandered over the map of Arcadia Bay, heading towards Blackwell.

It had cost the blonde fifty bucks and a shy smile to convince Brooke to install a program on her phone to track down Chloe's smartphone via the number that was still faintly decorating her arm.

"It's time!" she whispered and gave her bunny one last kiss on its head. "Mommy's gonna miss you!"

She took one last inhale, tightened the grasp around the dagger and wanted to leave.

Kate hadn't even put one step out of her room as someone touched her chest and shoved her back inside.

It was Max, who immediately embraced her tightly, before gazing at her deeply.

"Kate, please don't do it!" she pleaded, holding her friends shoulders tightly.

Being entirely overwhelmed, Kate simply stammered "D-do what?" But then she saw Max's gaze shifting to the dagger in her hands, which made her blush and feeling ashamed in an instant.

To her additional surprise, Max raised her head with a soft touch on her chin and placed a tender peck on her lips.

"Just wait for me, okay?" she spoke and left.

Still entirely stunned, Kate just nodded, sat down on the bed and waited, unable to wrap her head around what just happened.

* * *

Humming the melody of one of her favorite songs, Steph drew some sketches into her sketchbook under the flickering light of several candles. At first, those drawings were about the play she was working on. But soon, backdrops became costumes, then costumes on random mannequins and a bit later costumes on Chloe. The latest sketches, however, showed Chloe with scarce and eventually without any garments as well as in different erotic positions.

Since she had left Blackwell, Steph had missed Chloe, one of the coolest gals of Arcadia Bay. More than once she had thought about contacting her, but she also knew about hers and Rachel's relationship and had skipped the plan whatsoever.

But tonight, she would confess her feelings! After two years without a girlfriend, she would finally make a move on that blue-haired, sexy punk-chick!

As something was falling to the ground close-by, Steph got startled, gasping out loud. She gazed into the darkness, but saw nothing.

"Hello?" she called out, already feeling uneasy. "Is anybody there?"

Nothing. Not even a faint sound.

Taking a deep breathes, Steph wanted to turn her attention back to her sketches, but the sketchbook was suddenly gone.

" _Pretty kinky drawings you've got there…Stephanie…Gingrich!_ " chimed an eerie female voice out of the darkness, sending a cold shiver over Steph's spine.

"Wh-who are you?" she shouted into the darkness, only receiving a snicker, but this time from another direction, which made her spin around.

" _You're fucking talented! Those sketches really look like Chloe…in every detail._ "

Now on the edge of freaking out, Steph lost her temper and yelled "Listen, you sick fuck, I don't like playing psycho-games! Now fuck off or I call security!"

Another giggle echoed through the room as the door closed shut and got locked like by magic.

" _Do you love Chloe?_ " the voice asked, letting Steph just gasp a "What?!". Then, her sketchbook flew right in front of her feet, the pages with the nude drawings of Chloe on top. From the darkness, a slender girl with freckles and an emotionless demeanor, emerged and closed in on Steph.

"I asked, if you love Chloe?" she repeated the question with more urgency.

"I…I…" stammered Steph at first, but regained her composure as she saw the girl and got angry. "That's none of your fucking business, okay! Now fuck off, before I kick your ass!"

Out of a sudden, the freckled brunette appeared in front of her, making Steph stumble backwards with a gasp.

"It is my business, Stephanie, 'cause she's my girlfriend!"

Besides asking herself how this girl had been able to teleport herself, Steph knew right away that she shouldn't mess around with her. Especially now, that the other brunette had a very good reason to be pissed about her.

"Okay, listen! Yes, I planned on getting busy with Chloe, but I didn't know that she's in a relationship. If that's the case, then I'm off, 'cause neither I'm interested in having an affair nor a three-way relationship!"

For some seconds, the brunette stayed quiet, glimpsing thoughtfully at the ground, until she whispered a sad "I'm sorry!"

Thinking that she might be apologizing for scaring her, Steph brushed with one over the other girl's shoulder, saying "Hey, it's okay! You had all right to go all psycho on me. And believe me, I'm gonna have a serious talk with Chloe for fucking me over!"

"No!" replied the freckled brunette, "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. But you need to understand that Chloe needs to be punished for her betrayal and…" Then she gave Steph the coldest glare that let her blood freeze. "…if I hurt you it will hurt her tenfold!"

Gasping "Wh-what?!" Steph took a few steps away from the other girl. A crack sounded from behind, and as Steph turned around, she saw how one part of the wooden stage set was about to fall onto her. Reacting fast enough, Steph jumped aside, only to slip on her sketchbook and fall face first onto a wooden board, spiked with a bunch of big nails – probably some stupid students handiwork. The pointy pieces of iron pierced Steph's skull and killed her in an instant.

After all the noise from the incident had abated, Max kneeled down besides the dead woman's body and combed a few times through her air.

"I'm so sorry!" she whispered, a bunch of tears rolling down her cheeks. This had been the first time, she had killed someone innocent.

* * *

A loud noise chimed from within the main building, making Chloe stop in her tracks right away.

For a minute, she held her breath and listened into the darkness of the night. But it stayed quiet. Now exhaling out of relieve, she entered the building and went straight for the drama lab.

A flickering, warm light shone through the open door and – out of giddiness of seeing Steph again – Chloe rushed towards the room, stopping with a loud gasp of surprise as an angry looking Max, instead of Steph, stood in front of her.

"Uh…h-hey Maxi! Wh-what are ya doing here?" stuttered Chloe, scratching the back of her neck out of nervousness.

"I should ask you the same," was Max's short, cold answer, which made Chloe feel even more uneasy than before.

She knew that she was in big trouble, but being used to lie her way out of uncomfortable situations, the bluenette tried to come up with an excuse, no matter how cheap.

"Uh…y-y'know that…uh…that I had a fight with Mom and step-ass. And…uh…I was pissed, so I…um…I-I don't know…I just felt the need to roam the halls of Blackhell. Distraction 'n' shit, y'know."

"Oh!" huffed Max nonchalantly, taking a step aside. "And it had nothing to do with meeting her?"

The freckled girl pointed at something inside the room, and just now, Chloe was able to walk inside and see the mess that had caused the loud noise. In the middle of it, lied the body of Stephanie Gingrich.

"STEPH!" Chloe called out and sprinted towards her friend, realizing that she was dead, which made her sob and shed a bunch of tears.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" chimed Max's emotionless voice from behind, letting the bluenette know that her girlfriend lacked any empathy. "It hurts to get your heart broken, doesn't it?"

"What have you done?!" Chloe whimpered as a reply and the answer followed in form of a sketchbook, landing right beside her.

"You broke my heart, Chloe!"

With blurry sight and shivering lips, Chloe gazed at the nude sketches, which told her that Steph really had deep, amorous feelings for her. Feelings she had longed for since her days at Blackwell. And this caused her to jump up in rage and dash towards Max, grapping her by the collar of her hoodie and pinning her against the next wall.

"You fucking psycho-bitch killed her!" Chloe yelled into her face, but Max demeanor remained cold and emotionless as she simply bobbed her head slightly.

"Indeed I did! And it's your fault! _You_ made me do this!"

"You're sick!" hissed Chloe back, releasing her while she turned around and tried to somehow calm down.

"Yes," spoke Max with a low voice, sadness chiming with it, "you're right. I'm sick. So sick, that I once forgot what emotions are." With a sniff and watery eyes she gazed at Chloe, who was turning around again, now radiating pure sadness. "The first time I met you, I fell in love. For the first time after two years I was able to feel again. You gave me hope for a new life and all I wanted from this moment on, was to be with you and keep you safe. Yes, I killed Stephanie. As well as I killed every other asshole who wanted to hurt you!"

"No way!" gasped Chloe, backing away as Max walked towards her, her tone getting cold again.

"Rachel, Jefferson, Nathan, Frank, Damon…Every one of them wanted to hurt you, but I stopped them. _I_ gave you all my love andprotected you, and this is how you thank me for this?!"

"G-go away! Y-you freaking me out!" whimpered Chloe, pressing herself against the wall in her back and staring at the now enraged brunette right in front of her with dilated eyes.

"Don't _ever_ come close to me again or you'll join all of those fuckers in hell!" hissed Max right into her ex-girlfriend's face, before she vanished into thin air.

All Chloe was able to do now, was to wrap her arms around her body and sink to the ground, crying out the psychological hammer Max had given her.

* * *

She did as Max had told her and waited. For how long now? She didn't know. If it had been 15 seconds or 15 minutes or even 15 hours, Kate couldn't say. She only knew that Max was worth waiting an eternity!

A sudden knock on the door let the blonde jump up in an instant and open it up right away.

Behind it. stood Max. Arms wrapped around her body and tears flowing down her face. She looked completely devastated, and with an "Oh my god, Max!" Kate pulled her inside the room and took her friend into a tight embrace.

Right as this moment, everything hammered down on Max. The bullying throughout the years, Jefferson's sick photo session in that bunker, Chloe's betrayal, seeing Kate's corpse in that other timeline and Steph's death. Summed up emotions, which Max had hidden away and were now released in a big blast.

She tightened the hold around Kate and screamed out her soul pain and one thing was for sure, nobody in this dorm could sleep that night.

* * *

Hours had gone by, the sun already rising on the horizon, since Max had been able to stop crying. The entire time, Kate had been lying by her side, spooning the brunette and stroking her arm and head, whispering soothing words into her ears. Except from that, none of them had spoke a word, but simply enjoyed their closeness, until Max decided to break the silence.

"You wanted to kill her, didn't you?" she asked, catching Kate by surprise and making her stop the brushes.

"Yes!" she replied with a low, ashamed voice, almost fearing Max could be mad at her. But instead of raging, the freckled girl just turned around and gazed with her red-cried eyes deeply at her friend.

"Why?"

And again, Kate is taken aback, actually not willing to confess the reason for her planned murder. Yet, she felt that Max would neither judge nor rage on her, no matter what.

"She never deserved you! Whenever I met her, she spoke of you like she was searching for nothing more than a toy to satisfy her primitive urge for procreation! I…" For a moment she paused, taking some breathes to calm herself. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to call you a sex toy!"

"But that's what I was for her. Some fun for lonely nights. She never told me that she loved me, always wanted to fuck. I…I was so stupid! I…"

Out of a sudden, Kate leaned in and planted a soft kiss on Max's lips, breaking this vicious circle of self-destruction.

"You are not stupid! She took advantage of you. Something I would never do! Something you don't deserve! I hated her so much that I…I…"

Then, Max replied the kiss with some more passion, before she said "I know!" and then sat up, sighing deeply. "Kate…there's something you need to know about me."

"O-okay…"

Once more, Max stared sternly into Kate's eyes, underlining that this is serious. "At first, I'll promise you that, however you'll react, I won't hurt you and will give in to my fate, whatever it might be. Got it?"

"Max, I…" agreed Kate with a nod, but got immediately stopped in her words by the brunette's raised hand.

Max closed her eyes and prepared herself mentally about the confession she was about to make.

"Kate…I'm a murderer! I killed Rachel, Jefferson, Victoria, Nathan, two drug dealers and Stephanie Gingrich. But…nobody knows that it was me, because I've got some powers which grant me the ability to manipulate time, which made it easy to cover my tracks."

Looking at the freckled girl with wide open eyes, Kate lacked the ability to reply something. Murder? Manipulate time? For the blonde, there was only one explanation for this.

"Max, I…I already heard that you spent some time in a psychiatric ward and…"

Out of a sudden, Max vanished in front of her eyes and reappeared on the other end of the room. And a second later, she reappeared with two bags of food in her hand. Entirely freaked out, Kate screeched and fell off the bed, but didn't hit the ground, since Max was already behind her and captured her mid-air.

"Dear Lord!" gasped Kate, but lacked any other reply.

"What I just told you is the truth and if you…if you wanna throw me out now or call the cops, I would accept it!" She took another deep breath and gazed at a point on the opposite wall. "I'm so tired of it. So tired of hiding who I really am! Chloe…I felt that she would never understand, but you…"

Cupping her face, Kate kissed Max once more and told her some magical words: "I love you! And will never let you down!" which made Max's heart skip a giant beat, yet she still had doubts.

"Kate, don't say what you don't mean!"

"But I mean it, Maxine!" Kate nearly yelled, freeing herself out of the other girl's hold. "From the first day I saw you, I wished to be brave enough to finally speak with you, but I chickened out all the time! And when I dragged you back to my room that other day, I was so happy. I even…I even gave up my beliefs and sinned, okay!"

Blushing intensively upon confessing that she had masturbated while thinking about Max, Kate turned away, almost crying out of shame and her next words spoken with a shivering voice.

"When I overheard you and this slut the other night, my heart broke. I felt so lonely and desperate. I put my last hope in that thought, that you two only had meaningless sex, but then you told me that you have a girlfriend and I…I…"

"Yes!" Max suddenly threw in, making Kate to look at her dumbfounded. "The question you asked that day. Yes, I…I wanna go out with you!"

Now completely overjoyed, Kate Marsh embraced Max again and sobbed out of happiness.

* * *

The wind brushed through her blue hair as Chloe led the burning cigarette towards her mouth with a shaky hand and took a deep draft. With a shivering breath she exhaled the smoke and flipped the cigarette butt down the cliffs.

' _She killed them! She killed them all! And she…she can somehow teleport herself! What the fuck is she? A failed governmental experiment? An alien? Or am I going insane?! How the fuck did she found out about Steph? Is she psychic and read my mind? Will she come for me, too? What if she kills my mom?'_

Unable to answer even one single of those questions, Chloe jumped up and screamed out her frustration, collapsing on her knees after she hadn't had any breath to cry anymore. Fact was, that Steph has been killed, because she fucked up and this was something, Chloe couldn't just let standing there in the open.

Step by step, the bluenette came up with a plan to avenge Steph and Rachel, and eventually to save her own behind. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number she never thought she'd dial ever in her life.

[Operator]: _"This is the district attorney's office, how may I help you?"_


	10. Chapter 9: Failsafe for the Win!

**Chapter 9: Failsafe for the Win!**

The conference room of the DA's office was filled to the last seat with authorities, who were forming a commission to investigate and solve the multiple murder which had occurred in and around Arcadia Bay.

James Amber, was just about to load a presentation and project it onto a canvas on the wall. First thing that appeared was a big photo of Max Caulfield.

"Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen listen up!" he spoke up to gain everyone's attention. "Two days back, we received a Tipp, regarding the series of mysterious deaths we're investigating. The witness gave us a full statement and, in return, insisted on staying anonymous. I agreed to this wish, because it's possible she might be one of the next victims in a series of murders. Yes, you heard right, murders! We're talking about homicide, Ladies and Gentlemen!"

He then switched to the next slide, showing all the victims and continued his speech.

"The witness delivered us the missing links between all those murders and makes Miss Maxine Caulfield our main suspect. You can read any further details in your documents, but bottom-line is that Miss Caulfield is extremely dangerous and needs to be apprehended as quickly as possible before she commits another murder."

"Sir?" said one of the policemen, raising his hand to speak. "Those crimes seemed to have been more or less spontaneous. So, how did she pull them off without leaving any major trace?"

"That's a point we don't know, yet." answered James, switching to a next slide with more details. "May it have been some sort of sick talent or sheer dumb luck, the details are, what give her away. For example this suicide note from Miss Victoria Chase."

Now the letter appeared on the wall, right beside it, a handwritten English-test from Max, both with some encircled spots.

"On the first glimpse, it seems like Miss Chase's handwriting, but after we ran an ACE-V over it, we found lots of flaws, which match perfectly to Miss Caulfield's handwriting."

Another policeman raised his hand.

"Do we know where she is at the moment?"

"Yes!" answered James, his demeanor getting darker. "And we going to arrest her in the next thirty minutes!"

* * *

They gazed deeply at each other. A pair of blue eyes and a pair of hazel ones. Next, their hands meet each other, fingers intertwining and thumbs brushing softly.

"I love you so much, Max!" said Kate with a soft sigh, feeling so happy and in love.

"I…I love you too, Katie! But…" replied Max, yet it sounded more plainly and as a matter of fact, than dripping with feelings. It didn't matter to the brunette when she had this thing with Chloe going on, but with Kate, a vulnerable person with deep feelings, it just sounded wrong and made her mouth escape a sad sigh. "Sorry, I'm not used to be romantic. With Chloe, it was…just…"

"Don't stress yourself too much about it!" intervened the blonde, giving her new girlfriend a tender, reassuring smile. "I know how you mean it and…just don't force yourself, okay?"

Hearing such caring words, Max gave her girlfriend an honest smile, while squeezing her hand softly. After such a disappointment with Chloe, it was nothing more than soothing for her injured and scared soul. It was a bonding moment. A moment, in which Max realized how much she needed this. She even would've shed some tears, if the waitress wouldn't have disturbed their peaceful togetherness.

"What can I bring such lovely young ladies in lo-…" spoke Joyce Price as she wanted to take her customer's orders, but stopped right away as she recognized Max. "Oh!" was everything she said at first as she saw Max and Kate's intertwined fingers. "No wonder, Chloe's so upset again. What did you do, Max? And don't you dare lying to me, young lady!"

Was this a moment someone normal should feel guilty or at least annoyed? Max didn't know. She had no bond whatsoever towards Joyce, so why bother with feelings?

Kate, on the other hand, feared that that this conversation could ruin her so longed date with her beloved Max, therefore she intervened right away. "Maybe you better ask Chloe! Eventually, it was her, who wanted to cheat on Max!"

There was a big difference between being able to feel and sense other people's emotions. And right now, Max realized that there was a lot of building up tension between Kate and Joyce, which could easily lead to a fight and therefore ruining this soothing date. Something the brunette wasn't willing to accept.

"Joyce," she eventually spoke, faking some sadness, "Chloe choose to don't take our relationship serious and flirted with other women behind my back. Maybe that's how things work for her, but it's not what I wanted. This is why I ended it."

With a loud sigh and shaking head, Joyce eventually accepted how things are and tried to keep her emotions at bay and tried to remain professional.

"I'm sorry to hear that, kid! Chloe…always had a thing for difficult relationships and sexual adventures. Hell, I overheard enough of 'em when she was still living with us." After another deep breath, she eventually asked, "So, what can I bring you two fresh lovebirds?"

Kate was just about to tell Joyce how much she would love to have a cheeseburger with fries and a giant strawberry milkshake, as, with loud noise and big commotion, several police forces stormed the diner and encircled the booth, where Kate and Max were sitting in.

"Maxine Caulfield, you're hereby under arrest for murder in multiple cases. Put your hands where I can see 'em and get on the ground!" shouted one of the officers, aiming with his M4 directly at Max's head.

While Kate was purely shocked, Max remained calm and stared at the table in front of her, weighing her next move.

She could easily kill each and every one of those men and women. But what would be the use, besides showing Kate her murderous side? No, after already experiencing such a killing spree and still feeling guilty to have killed Steph, this wasn't an option.

She could also rewind and make a run for it. But again, what would be the consequences? Being on the run with Kate for the rest of their life or getting killed in the end, when her powers fail her? No, the only real chance for her and Kate was, to find out how they found out that she murdered all those people and then, somehow, try to set things straight. Therefore, Max decided to play by the rules…for now!

But how sweet would life be, if it would always run the way you want it? Sadly, for Max it always had gone to hell and fucked her over. This time, it was in form of a rookie cop.

All those policemen and -women probably knew what Max had done. Cruel things, which would run a cold shiver even over a hard-experienced cop's spine. But a policeman, fresh from the academy and probably experiencing his first real action, was all nervous, probably even imagining right at that very moment how the suspect would do those cruel things with him, if Max would get her merciless claws around his neck.

Such a man was edgy and felt only safe with his gun in his trembling hands, squeezing it tightly and having the trigger always on the breaking point. Such a man was ready to shot. Was ready to kill. Was an accident, waiting to happen. All it needed was a false move. And in this case, it was poor Kate Marsh, who made it as she wanted to protect her beloved Max.

Seeing that her girlfriend – who she didn't want to loose again – was about get up and let herself get taken into custody, Kate wanted nothing more than to urge her to stay and make a stand against the authorities, no matter if it would be of any use.

The rookie, sweat on his forehead and breathing shallow, just jerked his gun in Kate's direction and accidentally motions the trigger the last needed fraction of a millimeter to let the shot break.

The bullet impacted right into Kate's forehead, piercing her brain, before it exited on the backside with a messy red fountain.

In slow-motion, Max had to watch how her girlfriend went down, her eyes watery and widen in shock. Using her powers, she captured the blonde before she could hit the ground.

"Katie!" she whimpered, pressing Kate's limp corpse close and rocked her softly.

The police officers, entirely stunned by the scene and having seen Max teleporting to capture the shot girl, were taking a step back, unsure what to do, until the team leader spoke up once more.

"Miss, put your hands behind your head and lay down or…"

He couldn't even finish his sentence as Max's glowing blue eyes gazed at him with a murderous stare, which sent a wave of fear through the entire diner. Before anyone could react, Max had teleported herself right in front of the rookie, already his gun in her hands and shot him right in the head from below, which induced another red fountain that sprinkled everyone around with red droplets.

Panic broke loose in the diner, additionally supported as all police officers opened fire on the freckled girl. Dozens of shots of different calibers chimed, but none of those bullets even reached Max, only hovering around her. Once again, the officers stepped back, lacking any other options to fulfill their assignment or to hand the situation.

But to their surprise, Max – her demeanor emotionless and her face drenched with tears – slowly turned around, dropped the gun and raised her hands in surrender.

After the floating projectiles had fallen to the ground with tapping sounds, a policewoman cautiously approached the girl, wrestled her to the ground and cuffed her hands behind her back, while telling Max her rights.

* * *

Silence. Max once loved silence. It had been soothing and without any emotion. It had told her that loneliness was her friend. It had given her some sort of inner peace.

But today, silence hurt her. It was unnerving and painful. It told her that she was alone again. It robbed her of those warm feelings of love and comfort. It was simply torturing her.

Sadly, the interrogation room with its silence she was sitting in for over an hour now, was nothing more than a torture chamber. Not to mention that it was quite uncomfortable to sit on a metal chair with hands cuffed behind your back. So, it was kind of a relief as the door got unlocked and attorney Andrews came sauntered in, accompanied by two policemen.

The DA's assistant took a seat at the other end of the table, at which Max was sitting at and unpacked some documents, plus a recording device.

But while Andrews stayed professional, the two cops glared at Max with pure daggers, probably wishing that she would give them a reason to shoot her. They obviously were still grumpy about their comrade, who had murdered an innocent girl. In Max's eyes, he just got what he had deserved.

"Miss Caulfield," Andrews began to speak, "my name is…"

"Darryl Andrews, the DA's assistant," Max completed his sentence, gazing at him without any emotion. "I know. I already killed you, once."

If having an 18-years-old serial killer in front of you wasn't creepy enough, being nonchalantly told by her that she already had killed you let the blood in your veins turn to ice.

"Well," Andrews replied with a cough, while trying to hold his composure, "then I'm glad that it just happened in your imagination. But let's just change the topic and talk about you and the situation you're in, okay?"

Seeing in this whole situation nothing more than an inconvenience, Max simply shrugged, not even bothering about what Andrews had to say.

"Miss Caulfield, let alone that you shot a police officer right in front of multiple witnesses, we also managed to link several of the latest homicides to you."

To underline his words, Andrews pulled out several copies of evidence, plus an anonymous statement.

Okay, for most of the murders they only had a motive or some adventurous theories, but nothing to nail her on them.

Victoria's suicide note. Sloppy, yes. But the decision to look further into it came, according to the protocol, after they received this statement, which was very detailed.

Times of absence, motives, strange behavior…Max knew immediately, who had called on her. It had been the only person she had been close to the entire time: Chloe!

After a scoff, she raised her cold sight again, making Andrews feel uncomfortable once more. Her figure seemed to flicker for a moment and, suddenly, her un-cuffed, blood-stained hands were resting on the table.

Now being taken entirely aback, Andrews turned around to address the cops about this unnerving situation, only to realize the bloody mess behind him.

Both policemen lay dead on the ground, blood sprinkling out of several round wounds in their necks. And as he felt a warm, sticky liquid on his fingers, he saw that his pen was drenched with blood.

"So, it was Chloe, wasn't it?" stated Max, smearing the statement red while reading it. More and more her hands clenched, wrinkling the paper, while new tears were rolling down her cheeks, making it evident that she was internally hurt upon this vast betrayal.

Feeling the panic rising inside, Andrews jumped up and hammered against the locked door, yelling "HEEEELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

But he received no answer and as he turned around, Max was standing behind him, her entire being dripping with blood and her voice eerie, lacking any emotion.

"Nobody will hear you, Mr. Andrews, 'cause they're all dead!"

"Why…? Why are you doing this?" Andrews asked with a shivering, fear-dripping voice, unable to imagine the horrors which are lying beyond this door. But if he had hoped to get, at least, a satisfying answer, Darryl Andrews just received another shrug.

"You're afraid, aren't you?" stated Max, closing in on the now crying attorney. "I can't even remember the last time I felt fear…how it feels to be afraid."

"Wh-what are you?!" he than whispered, losing all hope as he stared into these merciless, blue eyes of an eighteen year old girl. A sight, which would even the bravest of hearts let lose all their ambition.

"I'm the mirror of our society. The symptom of a disease, which is spreading across the modern world. I'm the answer to all bullies and to every fucker in this world who thinks that he or she is better than someone else. How got you treated in school, Mr. Andrews?"

Max stopped now right in front of him, their noses almost touching each other. At this point, Andrews felt so uncomfortable that he had to muster all of his willpower to not scream out loud.

"Lemme guess. You were an ambitious straight-A student with few friends. An asskisser, who nobody really got comfortable with. You got bullied…picked on. The dumbasses of your school envied you for your success and smartness, didn't they?"

As Darryl nodded, Max backed away a bit and chuckled for a faint moment. "You see…?! We're actually on the same side, but strangely…we're kinda not."

"P-please…!" whimpered Andrews, clearly not able to hold that psychological pressure anymore. And as he received another chuckle of amusement and a fist bump on his shoulder, he nearly fainted.

"Don't worry, tough guy, I won't kill ya!" mentioned Max, turned around and pulled something out of her jean's pocket.

Like a wall had been broken, the attorney's brain started its work again, having a lot of questions. "Wh-why? H-how? I-I mean…H-how did you…?

"I don't know," answered Max immediately, brushing with her fingers over a photo in her hand. "It all started when Jefferson wanted to kill me. At first, it was just rewinding time, then I suddenly was able to stop it and now…now I'm able to influence the time of individual objects and travel back via images, like photos or videos. This here…" She showed Andrews the picture, depicting her and Kate, arm-in-arm in front of a mirror. "…is kind of a failsafe. I'm gonna undo everything that had happened during the last two days. This is why it wouldn't make any sense to kill you."

As he tried to make some sense out of the girl's nearly insane information, Andrews saw how she focused entirely on the picture, not paying any attention on him. Though, he had witnessed strange things, his logical part of the brain simply stamped them as illusions, induced from seeing all those traumatic things.

Wanting to use his chance, he stormed at Max, but suddenly stopped as her death-stare met him.

He felt pain. Immense, hot pain as he became weaker and weaker. As he gazed at his hands, the attorney saw how they wrinkled more and more, got thinner until they were nothing more than skin and bones. Then, his sight got all foggy, leading to inevitable darkness.

* * *

It was like in the movie _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_ as attorney Andrews got older and older until his body started to deteriorate. Skin and flesh melted away in a gray, of decay stanching ooze, while his milky eyes fell out of their sockets and soon, the formerly mid-aged man remained nothing more than a bony pile of body waste. An artful picture of death and decay.

"Idiot!" mumbled Max with a big sigh and a headshake, Max returned her attention back to the picture. Once more, she felt the pull and let herself get sucked into the picture.

She heard her voice through the blur.

"Say cheese!"

Then, the whirring sound of her old instant camera, followed by Kate's sweet voice.

"Gosh, I hope this works!"

"It will, trust me!" she heard herself again and as her senses kicked entirely back in, she felt Kate's soft lips on her own. Immediately, she wrapped her arms around her now being alive again girlfriend and pressed her even closer. With a soft smile and tears of joy in her eyes, Max broke the kiss and said "See, I told you it would work!"

Gasping in surprise, Kate took a few steps back. "M-Max?! A-are you…?!

"From the future? Yeah…kinda…" returned Max with a shrug and a smirk, but then jumped forward and kissed Kate with even more passion, completely forgetting that their relationship wasn't even one day old. The image of her girlfriend, laying in her arms with a bullet hole in her head, creeped back into her mind and let the freckled girl sniff as sadness overwhelmed her.

Kate knew right away that something must've gone wrong badly, so she comforted her Max by brushing softly through her brown hair. "Ssh, my little bunny! I'm here!"

Nodding in acknowledgment, Max backed away a bit, trying to calm down with some deep breaths.

"Katie," she then spoke, "There's something I have to do…alone!"

Facing an inner conflict, Kate lowered her gaze and closed her eyes. On one hand she knew that Max wasn't reckless or did something without any serious reason. Yet, she wanted to keep her save and away from any harm…or from harming anyone else.

"Max," she said, her sad eyes searching her girlfriends glare, "I know your way of dealing with things and, believe me, I don't care about any of those assholes you sent to hell, but…" She then cupped her cheek, brushing away a tear with her thumb. "Be aware that you don't get lost on you path and become the devil himself!"

* * *

"Well, that's all I can say. Whenever someone had an _accident_ , she was there and…somehow…she…kinda…sorta…can teleport herself, which probably helped her a lot covering her tracks 'n' shit. Long story short: she's an insane freak, who dumbed my ass and now I'm on her death list, too. So, if you find my cold, yet still absolutely sexy bum, you know it was her. But since I'm kinda hanging on to my life it would be really rad to stay anonymous until she's in jail or dead…whichever comes first. In that spirit: Chloe Price, signing off!"

With a loud sigh, Chloe stopped the voice recording and wiped over her face with one hand. For a long moment, she stared at the to an email attached file that would bring the downfall to her ex-girlfriend, Max Caulfield. Of course, she felt a hint of regret, yet stopped questioning her doings as she thought about Steph's demise.

"Go to hell, you crazy bitch!" she hissed angrily and pushed the send-button, but to her surprise, an error occurred, telling the bluenette that the file couldn't be found. Already cursing on her untrustworthy, old laptop, Chloe tried to run the backup, but her flashdrive was gone as well. Immediately, she froze, already aware of the danger she was in, most of all evident from the cold atmosphere that was filling her room. A coldness, which was even stronger in Max's voice that chimed from behind.

"Hello, Chloe! Lookin' for something?"

Scoffing in defeat, the punky girl slowly turned around with her office chair, seeing Max sitting on the bed of her room, before saying "And I thought you never wanted to see me again."

"Oh, I didn't want to, but when your actions gonna fuck my life over by getting my girlfriend killed, I'm taking it personal," replied Max, playing with Chloe's flashdrive in her hand.

As they both stared into each other's eyes, Max could literally feel how Chloe got more and more uncomfortable, peaking in a state where her eyes got watery because of an incoming panic.

"A-and what now? You gonna murder me, like Steph? You gonna make it look like an accident?"

Shaking her head and sighing "Oh Chloe," Max got up and sauntered around the room, clearly having problems to handle this situation as well. "I never planned on killing you, but…you stupid idiot called the cops on me and made everything complicated!"

"Max, I never…"

"…wanted to do this? Yeah, sure! Stop shitting me! You're even so afraid of me that you're hiding in your old room, surrounded by David's security cams, which are – by the way – already deactivated."

As always when caught in a corner, Chloe went into her bold, punky behavior, trying to overcome her fear. "Listen, you insane cunt! You can kill me, but sooner or later someone will bust your bony ass and…"

As Max suddenly reappeared right in front of Chloe's face, the bluenette stopped talking and fell off the chair she had been sitting on.

"Don't you get it, Chlo? I don't give a rat's ass about you anymore. I and Kate just wanna be left alone!" For a few seconds, Max paused, clearly in deep thoughts, before she spoke again. "But I'm afraid that won't be possible as long as you hang around, won't it?"

Chloe's eyes widened in a new wave of fear as she saw Max's mischievous smirk and instantly knew that something bad was about to happen.

* * *

For the fifth time within thirty minutes, James Amber checked his email-account, still waiting for the promised statement of his late daughter's ex-girlfriend, Chloe Price. He never got fond of the punk-girl or agreed with her lifestyle. Yet, he always had accepted Rachel's decisions in life and therefore had tolerated their relationship.

James had always distrusted Chloe and the punk-girl had done the same vice versa. Yet, in that special case, both had agreed to trust each other. To sign a truce in their never-ending rivalry in order to bring down the person, responsible for Rachel's death.

But right now, it seemed like Chloe had just pulled his leg with some absurd theory. Truth be told, how could an innocent, shy 18 years old girl-…

"Hello, Mr. Amber!" it chimed suddenly from across his desk, startling the DA so much that he jumped from his chair.

"Jesus Christ!" cursed James, frowning in anger at Max. "M-Miss Caulfield! How the hell did you get in here?"

As always, when she wasn't in the mood to answer, the young girl simply shrugged without any emotion, eventually ignoring the question entirely.

"So, Chloe told you that I'm responsible for every fucker, who bit the dust?"

Being used as District Attorney to hide emotions and feelings, James Amber calmly sat down again, leaned back and folded his hands.

"I'm sorry Miss Caulfield, but I can't give you any information about an ongoing investigation. Especially, since you're involved in it."

"Oh James, I already know everything I need to know."

As Max lay a pile of folders on the table – each and everyone regarding the case – Mr. Amber couldn't hold up his façade and widened his eyes.

"Miss Caulfield, even looking at those files is considered a federal crime!"

"Oh, boo-hoo! Just add it to my list of numerous manslaughters!"

Once again, James couldn't suppress his demeanor as his eyes began to sparkle out of anticipation.

"So, you're admitting to have committed all those crimes?"

Once more he just received a shrug, followed by silence. But James Amber wasn't a man, who could be frightened by such a behavior. He'd seen it all. From the brightest serial killer to the most messed up drug head. Therefore, he took the matter as it is.

"Well, I must say, I'm a bit surprised that, both, you turn yourself in and that it was you."

"Who said, I'm gonna surrender to you?"

Finding this childish and bold behavior, regarding this matter, not amusing anymore, James got up again and leaned towards Max, resting his hands on the desktop.

"Do you really think that you're going to leave this office as a free person?"

"Uh…yeah!" replied Max with another shrug, not showing any worry. But though he felt more and more agitated by this disrespect, James remained calm.

"Miss Caulfield, I read about your mental state. A touching story, yet it doesn't excuse the fact that you murdered several people. _But_ …if you give me a statement right now and confess, I'll make sure that you'll spend the rest of your life in a closed psychiatric ward instead of prison."

"Ooh, what a great outlook…NOT!" mocked Max, but this time she got up as well and faced James Amber with a darkened demeanor. "Meds until you can't think anymore, restrains at night so that you can't even fuck yourself and abusive wardens. Believe me, James, I'd rather go to prison or die instead of going back into a looney bin! But that's not why I'm here."

Realizing, he had a very hard case in front of him, James Amber exhaled deeply and opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a bottle of Sherry, plus two glasses, filling the both up and reaching one of them towards Max, who arched an eyebrow.

"Offering alcohol to an 18-year-old girl? Kinda illegal, Mr. DA!"

But said DA just scoffed and took a deep sip, which relaxed him in an instant as the alcohol burned through his throat and began to unfold its effect.

"Miss Caulfield, let's face it: you're insane. Delusional if you want to. And the most horrible thing is that you have quite a hand for covering up your murderous crimes and now think that you'll get out of this again. Underage drinking should be the least of your problems now. But amuse me! What do you want?"

Without hesitation, Max took the glass and gulped down the alcoholic liquid in one draw, not even flinching as put down the glass again.

"Yuck! How can you drink this stuff?" she said with disgust, before finally answering James' question. "I want you to get off my crack. I'm gonna leave the town…even tonight, if you want to, but…"

All of a sudden, Mr. Amber broke out into laughter, refilling both glasses.

"This is really hilarious and sad at the same time. But as I said, you won't leave this office as a free person."

He couldn't even react fast enough as Max's glass full of Sherry hit the DA right on the forehead, making it shatter on impact and him groan. The taller man stumbled backwards until he bounced against a cabinet and hit the ground. Lying there, blood dripping onto the ground, James tried to shake of the confusion and dizziness and as he had done so, he got pressed as Max's foot stomped on his back.

"Listen closely!" she spoke with a dooming voice, "You won't remember this conversation, but you'll find loads of info on your desk, regarding the Vortex Club and all its members, Nathan Prescott, Blackwell, Damon Merrick and each and every person's dirty laundry, who had fucked me over. Even your precious Rachel and your main suspect Chloe Price. Work to keep your office busy for years and giving you enough suspects for the murders. All gathered by myself!"

"Wh-where did you get this stuff?" groaned the injured DA, now lying in his own blood.

With a smirk, Max simply answered "Thanks to my delusional time-manipulation-skills."

 **Rewind!**


	11. Chapter 10: Time to Torture!

**Chapter 10: Time to Torture!**

Darkness was slowly consuming the remaining light of the day. The underwood if the surrounding forest was about to become an eerie place, letting every person's imagination filling it with mass murdering thugs and horrifying monsters.

Kate had always been a person, who's afraid of the evil and unknown creatures of the night. Even as a grown-up, she refused to watch any horror flicks and rather slept with a nightlight on. Gladly, Max was at her side, leading the afraid blonde through the thicket.

"Wh-where are we going?" she asked, pressing even closer to her girlfriend as she heard the cracking of a twig close by.

"You'll see in a minute," reassured Max and planted a soft kiss on Kate's cheek. Arm-in-arm they kept on walking for some more minutes, until the dark shape of a big vehicle appeared at the side of the small, muddy path they were walking on, an old, rusty truck standing right behind it.

"An RV?!" mentioned Kate with a frown, clearly not having awaited this. But Max just pulled her closer and lay her head on her shoulder.

"Our RV! Our new home!" she mentioned, faced Kate and gave her a kiss. "That's our ticket out of here! Away from all those assholes. Away from those murders! Just you and me…together!"

Of course, Kate didn't answer right away. She was simply too overwhelmed by this offered possibility. All it needed now, was for her to say " _Yes!_ " but before the word could leave her mouth, she heard a loud yelling, coming from inside the RV.

" _HHHHHEY! HELLO! ANYBODY OUT THERE?!_ "

Chloe!

Already seeing the agitated demeanor, Max rubbed soothingly Kate's shoulders, saying "Uh…I can explain this."

But instead of getting calmer, the blonde stomped past Max and into the RV.

" _Hey, I'm in here!_ " it chimed from inside the small bathroom, so Kate turned on the lights, headed straight towards it and ripped open the door.

"About time that someone…shit!" said Chloe, who was tightly bounded and sitting on the toilet with her pants down at her ankles, as a pretty pissed Kate stood in front of her. Without wasting a second, Kate pulled the bluenette out of the toilet and tossed through the RV, past the kitchen and past Max, who hissed through her teeth as she saw her ex-girlfriend hitting the table and eventually the ground.

"What the fuck is she doing here?" yelled Kate, giving Max a stinky eye. Knowing that the blonde had the potential to kill Chloe without hesitation, she didn't talk around the bush.

"Listen Katie, she wanted to call the cops on me and I had no other choice than to kidnap her. But I also can't kill her right now, because we need her!"

Not understanding her girlfriend's intentions entirely, Kate just shook her head, saying "For what?" But instead of an answer, she received a long, passionate kiss.

After Max backed away a bit, she softly spoke "Trust me!" before closing in again. Soft moans began to chime through the vehicle as both lovers kissed and let their hands glide over each other's body. At least, until Chloe cleared her throat.

"Um…mind taking another room, you crazy bitches?!"

For another moment, Max stopped the make-out session and gazed at Chloe with a smirk. "Look at her, Katie! She's flustered. Are you getting horny, watching us how we do it?"

"Blech! As if, cunt!" Chloe spitted out and turned away. But before Max could reply anything, her head is cupped tenderly and spun back in Kate's direction, who kissed her again.

"I want you, Max!" she moaned quietly, which took the brunette entirely aback. Not only the fact that Kate wanted to have sex with her so quickly, but also that she wanted to do it while Chloe was still around.

So, the question "What about her?" between the kisses was more than legit and for a second Max thought that Kate forgotten about the bluenette on the floor. But to her surprise, the blonde had something else in her mind.

"Let her watch!" she said with a mischievous smile, glimpsing at Chloe from the corner of her eye. "She clearly _enjoys_ it and that kinda turns me on!"

Though she never would've thought that Kate had such a dark, almost sadistic side – okay, Kate had also been able to kill Chloe and Steph coldheartedly – Max confirmed her suggestion by locking their lips again.

Cautiously, the brunette stripped off Kate's blazer and started to slowly unbutton her blouse, letting her hand gliding under it after she had done so. Kate enjoyed those arousing touches, which sent jolts of electricity through her entire being and made her moan.

"Um…gu-uys? Helloooo?" sounded Chloe's disturbing voice, making it evident that she didn't feel comfortable watching this. "Vomit. A pile of dogshit. Two fat, hairy men fucking each other. A train station's toil-mmmmmph!"

Suddenly, her own underwear stuck in her mouth, silencing the bluenette. She gazed at the two other girls, who were looking at her with smug smiles, while Max just laid her index finger on her mouth, saying "Ssh!"

Right away, the two lovers got busy again. After sliding off her blouse, Max also opened Kate's bra, which hit the ground a second later. For a minute, she just stared at her girlfriend, brushing softly with her fingers over every inch of her upper body.

At this moment, Kate felt aroused beyond everything, the heat between her legs turning into a wildfire that begged to be soon extinguished. Realizing that Max was entirely stunned, she stripped off her shoes, socks, skirt, thighs and panties by herself.

It literally chimed throughout the entire RV as Max's jaw dropped and her brain got into overdrive. Finding this behavior cute, Kate giggled and began to undo Max's clothes from her stiffened body as well, already feeling so giddy to see her finally naked. An incredible moment, which is also sweetened by Chloe's groans of protest.

"You see this, Chloe?" Kate then addressed the punky-girl, presenting Max's entire glory to her. "You'll never touch this again! Not this hair…"

She brushed through her girlfriend's brown hair.

"…not those cute tits…"

She kneaded, kissed and caressed Max's perky breasts, making her moan even more as she sucked on one of her nipples.

"…not this butt…"

Max had to hold on tightly to her out-of-nowhere bossy girlfriend as she tenderly petted her butt cheeks, getting sometimes close to her center.

"…and definitely not her pussy!"

As Kate began to touch Max's private parts, the brunette moaned out loud upon being so aroused from this situation. Unable to hold herself upright anymore, she even had to sit down on the small dining table, while Kate continued to pleasure her.

"Look how cute she is! She's worth dying for, but you…you never would've gone this far. I bet, you didn't even get her off like this! You simply never deserved her!"

As Chloe had to witness how Max got her orgasm, the desire to touch herself became almost unbearable. Yes, she never had such deep feelings for Max, but the sex had been incredible enough because of this psycho-touch. She tried to fight her restrains, but to no avail. All Chloe could do was to think about something so disgusting that she would be able to suppress her lust. Sadly, as Max began her sexy work on Kate, this plan was already doomed to fail.

Max had now taken over control and placed her beloved Kate on the table, where she had been sitting on a minute ago. Starting with the blonde's lips, she trailed a path down Kate's entire body, putting no rush onto it. But before diving into her center, she gazed one last time into her hazel eyes, saying "You're such a bad girl, Katie! And bad girl's need to be punished with tongue lashes!"

This time, it was Kate's loud moaning, which was even shooing away the scariest creature in the underwood of the surrounding forest.

"Oh yes, Max! Punish me! Punish this sinful body!"

Nobody – not even Chloe Price - could've imagined that Kate Marsh, the personification of innocence, could let out such lewd sounds, not helping the bluenette's case even in the slightest. The once simple desire for sex with a _happy end_ had now turned into a painful need for release, which couldn't be fulfilled.

Chloe had always been a sexual active girl, who had started to masturbate as a 12-year-old and lost her virginity at the tender age of fourteen. Commonly, she aimed for three to four orgasms a week, depending on her mood. So, it had been no wonder that Rachel had often used her border-lining nymphomaniac side to blackmail the bluenette by simply denying her an orgasm during sex.

Now she tried everything, from squirming around to moving her legs, to get the much wanted friction. But no matter what she did, nothing was enough to finally release the pressure in her abdomen, making the cramps even worse. Tears were now welling up in her eyes as desperation took over, eventually peaking in muffled sobs.

After a while and Kate's orgasm, both lovers had retreated into the bedroom and left Chloe alone. But the torture wasn't over yet, as she had to endure another hour of loud, lustful moans, until finally, silence occurred and she was allowed to drift into sleep.

* * *

Still being bound, lying on the cold floor with her pants down and having her panties in her now dried out mouth, Chloe eventually woke up again after a short time. It was still quiet, but the lights were now extinguished.

Feeling that her crotch began to ache once more and no chance for release was available, she tried to fall asleep again. But her entire body hurt and she felt thirsty beyond everything. So, sleeping was a no-go. Instead, she looked around, gasping in surprise as she realized that a butt-naked Max sat right beside her, gazing into darkness.

"You must hate me right now, aren't you?" she said and turned on a small light close by.

Chloe wanted to say something, but couldn't due to the improvised gag in her mouth. But, obviously, Max wanted an answer, since she pulled the entirely with saliva drenched slip out of the bluenette's mouth. As spit was filling it again, Chloe nearly choked on it, coughing in consequence.

Right away, Max gave her a glass of water and once she was able to, Chloe just spoke a weak and coarse "Fuck you!" which was answered with a faint scoff.

"That's what I always loved about you, Chlo: this bitchy punk-side."

Though, a soft smile painted Max's face at first, it soon turned into a dark demeanor, as well as her voice.

"If you make one sound and wake up Katie, I'll undo this moment and leave you with your pain, got it?"

At first, Chloe didn't know what Max wanted, until the brunette let her hand glide between the punk's legs and started to massage her still wet vagina. As soon as the digit of Max's finger touched her clitoris, Chloe gasped, leaned forwards and buried her face in the freckled girls shoulder to muffle her sounds.

With every brush, a giant jolt of lust flushed through her body and she felt how the cramps got stronger, but this time they were overpowered by pleasure. The pressure inside her abdomen rose more and more, until the dam bust open and everything was released in one big blow.

If she hadn't been bound, Chloe's limbs would've flailed out, but instead she just moaned loudly into Max's shoulder while a clear liquid was drenching the brunette's hand and the floor.

This intense orgasm lasted over a minute and as soon as it had abated, Chloe lost her conscious for a moment, but regained it a minute later.

"Holy…fucking…shit!" she gasped, breathing heavily. "Th-thanks…Maxi!"

Deep inside, Chloe had hoped that this had been a sign of peace. That Max would let her go. But it was nothing more than wishful thinking, evident by the brunette's still dark voice.

"See this as a last curtesy and never mention it again!"

Max was just about to leave as Chloe's spoken words made her stop in her track.

"I'm sorry!"

Right away, she turned around and closed in on the punk, whisper-yelling "You're sorry?! YOU'RE SORRY?! Do you even know what you've done to me?"

"I…I…" stammered Chloe, but was so intimidated that she couldn't come up with an explanation.

"I tell you what you've done: you betrayed me and broke my heart! That's what you've done! This is why I'm doing this! Because that's the exact same thing that made me who I am today!"

Silence. Chloe saw the hurt in Max's watery eyes. How she had to fight down her agonizing emotions, induced by painful memories. Actually, she would've expected her ex-girlfriend to either go away or to go all ballistic on her. But helping and cleaning her up wasn't really something Chloe had on her list.

A few minutes later, both sat at the table with a cold beverage, whereas Chloe had to drink hers with a straw.

"Back, when I've been fifteen years old," Max began to tell, sadness chiming with every word, "I crushed on a girl in my class. Gosh, she was so beautiful! Red hair, lotsa red freckles all over her perfect body, cute nose…just incredible. Her name was Theresa, Theresa Brown. A smart straight-A girl, who never got involved in any bullying whatsoever and mostly kept to herself. I was so obsessed with her.

One day – we had cleaning duty together – I made my move on her and to my surprise, she felt the same for me. At first, we took it slow. Y'know, exploring the unknown terrain of sapphism. But eventually, we kissed and therefore became girlfriends, under one condition: we had to keep it a secret.

For the first time in my life, I saw a bright spot. My depression got better, I looked forward going to school and finally felt happy again.

The first three months we just stuck with kissing and holding hands, until she asked me to meet her in the gym after school. Of course, I took the offer.

Gosh, I'd been so nervous the entire day and as I met her and she instantly went full at it, I knew that we were about to take the next step.

I stripped off most of her clothes and she was already fumbling with my pants as suddenly all lights got switched on and some of our uber-bitches appeared together with a teacher.

Now you might think, _okay, we got caught_ , but this wasn't the problem, no. What really broke me was as Theresa betrayed me beyond everything."

Max paused for a moment, her eyes fixed on something that wasn't even in Arcadia Bay.

" _Help! She wants to rape me!"_ the freckled suddenly mumbled in absence before focusing on Chloe again. "I'll never forget those words. As soon as the lights had flicked on, Theresa had pushed me away, put some fake tears in her eyes and run into the arms of those bitches. I can still see their diabolic smirks on their faces while the teacher got full ballistic on me.

What happened after that was merely a blur of fucked up events. I was defenseless. Alone. Nobody had known that there had been something between me and Theresa. Maybe she had planned it all along. Maybe she had just been a bait. Who knows? I can't remember shit of the aftermath.

The only things, however, I can clearly remember, are hurt, desperation and how I cut my wrists during classes. How my blood sprinkled out of my arms and hit everyone in that very room. They all had blood on them, marking those fuckers as what they were: disgusting pigs!

But what nobody knew, I had something special in mind for my Theresa. While everyone thought I collapsed and she had simply caught me, I actually had given her one last, bloody hug and a few last, whispered words: _'Don't you forget about me!'_ "

Still entirely lost in her memories, Max hummed the melody of that very song with a soft smile before returning to the here-and-now.

"The last time I saw Theresa, her face had made the front page of every fucking newspaper. _The Slumber-Killer_ they had called her, because she had slaughtered her 'new' friends during a slumber party. Well, bitches, looks like bullying didn't pay out!"

Minutes passed, without both girls saying a word, whereas Chloe simply didn't talk because she felt sick and was pale as chalk, due to the realization what she had done to Max.

"I-I'm so sorry!" she whimpered quietly, first tears of guilt falling from her eyes. But if she had hoped that they would fall on fertile soil, Chloe was about to be disappointed, since the freckled girl simply stood up and gazed at her without any empathy or emotion.

"Now you know what awaits you!" she eventually mentioned and walked back into the bedroom, closing the door.

Feeling entirely lost and desperate, Chloe screamed once more "I'M SORRY!" before she broke down into tears.

* * *

She closed the door, Chloe's desperate sobs chiming behind her through the thin wood. Kate, who was of course fully awake, got up and tightly embraced her girlfriend.

"I overheard your story…and I'm so sorry, my poor, little bunny!"

Max didn't reply anything. She just hung in her beloved Kate's shoulder and enjoyed the closeness, hoping so much that she would never betray her as well or else, she would burn the entire world to cinder!

* * *

After the night had been over and bright daylight was flooding the RV, Max went one last time over the plan to finally leave Arcadia Bay behind, without any traces. Sure, it was a complicated plan with a lot of unknowns, but if it would work, then nobody would even miss Kate and Max.

"Okay, once more. You're gonna take Chloe's truck, drive it to the location and wait for my signal, got it?"

"Yeah…" confirmed Kate with a nod, but then looked away sheepishly. "B-but can I get something from home before we do this?"

"Uh…I-I don't think that it's a good idea to pack personal things, 'cause it would seem too obvious."

Letting her girlfriend's words seep into her mind, Kate thought about it for a while, but eventually stayed adamant.

"What I need to get is very important to me! Please, Max!"

Seeing the pleading in her beloved Kate's hazel eyes, Max eventually agreed and sighed "Fine! But we need to be quick. No dawdling or mushy goodbyes!"

With a soft "Thank you!" Kate embraced her brunette girlfriend and gave her a peck on the lips.

After giving Chloe the possibility to stretch her limbs and have a descend breakfast, they bound her up again. To Max's surprise, Chloe succumbed to everything, not even protesting once. A strange behavior, given the circumstances, yet both criminal girls just accepted it without any suspicion.

Thirty minutes later, Max steered Chloe's truck into the driveway of Kate's home, parking it right beside a black _Corolla_ , which caused Kate to curse "Damn!" upon seeing this vehicle.

"What is it, Katie?" asked Max right away with worry, earning a serious glare by the blonde.

"That's my auntie's car. Carla and Lynn are gone over the weekend and Dad spends the entire Saturday in church, preparing tomorrow's sermon. So, if my aunt's here, my Mom will be too, and they both are even more interrogating and bigot than the inquisition!"

"Fuck!" hissed Max in return, thinking things through again. "Can we somehow sneak past them? Or should just I go and get what you want?"

"No, you'll never find it. Better I…"

A high-pitched, poisoning-sweet voice suddenly interrupted Kate and sent a cold shiver over her entire spine.

"Oh hello, Katiiiiie! Why don't you and your friend join us for brunch?"

It was Auntie Marsh, who was standing right in the front door, waving at the two girls. She was the personification of a cliché-aunt: chubby, brown locks on her head, glasses with a thick pink frame, her blouse white and decorated with flowers, and her skirt having a color between spoiled cream and a prairie-dog roadkill. The brown thighs and the beige slippers doing the rest.

Both girls shared a stern glimpse, before Kate opened the passenger's door with a loud sigh and left the vehicle, Max following her right away.

Kate hadn't even done one step as her aunt literally stormed right towards her and embraced the small girl so tightly that she groaned in pain.

"Dear Lord, Katie! We haven't seen each other for weeks!" she nearly shrieked and then looked at and scanned Max from head to toe. "And who's your friend?"

"Auntie, this is Maxine. Maxine, this is my aunt, Eleanor Marsh!" Kate introduced, while Max, who had switched back to her shy demeanor, held out her hand for a handshake.

"H-hi, Miss Marsh! How are ya?"

But neither did Eleanor Marsh shake the freckled girl's hand nor give her a simple _hello._ Instead, she just put on an toothy smile that was more eerie than anything else and clearly foreshadowed something evil.

"Do you believe in the Lord, my child?" she said, the bigotry glistening in her brown eyes. Right away, Max realized that she and Kate were on thin ice here, therefore she would play along.

"Y-yes, ma'am. I-I believe in the Lord."

As if a button had been pushed, the eerie grin was replaced by a soft and warm smile. But the freak show continued as the strange woman suddenly yelled "Praised be the Lord for bringing us another sheep!" Then, she touched both girls' backs and literally shoved them into the house and straight towards the living room, where Kate's mom was already waiting.

"Kate!" she said and got up to give her daughter a quick hug. "I thought you wanted to spend the entire weekend at Blackwell to catch up some homework and prepare a project?"

"Uh…yeah…kinda."

"Then this must be the girl you talked about all the time," Janine added right away, shifting her warily glimpse to Max. And, of course, Kate took position right beside her girlfriend and wrapped one arm around her shoulder, like she wanted to protect her.

"Yeah, this is Maxine. My best friend and…partner. We…um…we were looking for a location around town and thought we pay you guys a visit."

Out of a sudden, an almost crazy chuckle chimed through the room, emitted by Eleanor. "Wonderful! The Lord has really blessed me with such a polite niece! I'll go and get some food and beverages. Janine, why don't you use the moment to show your daughter the surprise we've prepared for her?"

"That's a good idea, Eleanor. Come on, Kate!" replied Janine, signing Kate to follow her.

Though Kate found it rather strange that she was about to receive a surprise, she simply nodded in agreement and slightly bowed her head. As Kate already began to move, Max wanted to follow, but got immediately stopped by Auntie Marsh.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but this is family-business. But you can gladly help me to prepare everything for our meal, hmm?"

As Max was glimpsing at Kate and received a faint nod, the brunette girl complied and followed Eleanor into the kitchen. Though deep inside she had a very bad feeling and sharpened her senses.

* * *

Cautiously, they stepped deeper down into the dark basement of the house. Kate had always hated the idea of going down these very steps and had been more than glad that, for one, she and her sisters had never been allowed to go down there and secondly, that the door had always been locked.

But today, she had to go down there with her mother for whatever reasons.

"M-mom," the blonde spoke, her voice and body trembling out of fear, "Wh-where're we going?"

For a few seconds, until they had reached the bottom of the stairs, Janine stayed silent. But then she turned towards her daughter with an ice-cold glance.

"Do you know the history of our family, Kate? The heritage we need to uphold?"

Being the obedient daughter, Kate began to answer the question without questioning it in return.

"I-I just know that our family was among the first settlers in this area and spread the word of the Lord…even to the native people."

"That's right," praised Janine and turned towards a shelf and pressed a switch, which induced the entire wall to swing open. "They had also the duty to make sure that none of the Lord's sheep would walk or lead others astray."

Entirely taken aback by the opening of a secret passage, Kate hesitated to follow her mother into the dark room. But Janine's threatening stare let her legs move automatically.

A very uncomfortable, disgusting stench was filling her nose, making her gulp down a swig of bile. The young girl had already passed the door as Janine switched on the lights and closed the door shut right behind her.

Seeing the bloody horrors in front of her, Kate gasped and stumbled backwards until she had the wall in her back, her sight switching between the, with dried blood stained, old torture instruments. An iron Maiden, Thumbscrews, a Rack, Jougs, shackles and many other tools of infinite pain were scattered across the entire chamber.

Panic and shock were engulfing Kate's entire mind, making her incapable to do anything else than breathing heavily and reciting a prayer with a trembling low voice. Now she understood how her family had kept the _sheep_ _of the Lord_ on the righteous path. How they had punished the unbelievers. By pure pain and fear.

Only the cold-as-death grip and voice of her mother let the frightened girl snap out of her shock. But as she gazed pleadingly into Janine's eyes, she only was greeted by merciless bigotry.

"You're a sinner, Kate! Let's see how deep Lucifer has infested your sinful body!"

* * *

She heard how the engine of her beloved rust bucket roared loudly. She heard how the driver threw in reverse…and made the gear scream.

' _Pft…amateur! You need to let it slide in like a hella big dildo into a fucking virgin pussy!'_ thought Chloe, who was listening to every noise, with a scoff.

She heard how the very familiar sound of her truck faded in the distance, until only silence and a few sounds of nature remained.

She waited, wanting to be sure that she's safe for now. For how long? Chloe didn't know, but it was long enough.

Thanks to Rachel's kinky side and a hang for unusual sexual practices, Chloe had learned quite a few things, regarding bondage. She had looked tons of videos and read a lot of forums to gain enough knowledge to please her deceased ex-girlfriend's desires. While being at it, she had also done some research on what to do, if something goes wrong, starting from code words up to how creating your own failsafe, if the person who binds you is unexperienced.

Lucky for the punk-girl and due to her unconditional cooperation, it hadn't been Max who bound her up again, but Kate. Being unexperienced and cautious, the blonde hadn't really watched what Chloe was doing while she was tying her. All it had needed was to pump up all muscles and puff up her chest to make sure, the ropes would be lose enough to slip out of them when the time would come up. And now it was time!

Chloe huffed out all air, eased up her muscles and after a minute of struggling, she finally was free again!

"Free at last!" she cheered and stretched her limbs with a groan, before she pulled up her jeans again and left the small bathroom.

"Okay, you crazy bitches," spoke Chloe more to herself than anybody else, "This is my fucking RV, so where are those keys?!"

Of course the bluenette knew that Max had taken the keys with her, but as far as she remembered Frank, he always had at least one set of spare keys in case he would lose the original ones while being fucked-up beyond all recognition.

Chloe looked everywhere: behind the shades, drawers, cupboards, even Frank's old secret stashes, but found nothing, besides one of her late drug dealer's switchblades.

' _Hmm…this might come in handy!'_

Unable to find any spare keys, but also unwilling to become a part of Max and Kate's plan, Chloe decided to bail. The doors were locked. That was nothing more than a fact. So, how to escape?

For a long moment, the punky bluenette thought about many possibilities – most of them pretty unrealistic – until her glimpse fell on a hatch on the ceiling, which was a bit open.

* * *

It has been now over an hour since Kate had left with her mother. An awful long time Max had to spend on the couch with Auntie Marsh, who had been doing nothing else than to talk about the Lord, eating, slurping on her tea, talking some more about the Lord, talking about her health problems, slurping some more tea, eating a lot more, the Lord, health, tea, food, Lord…

' _UGH! And they call me insane. But this old hag is completely bonkers! I'd love to ram a fucking bible down her throat, let's see how good that for her health is!'_ thought Max, who had been rolling with her eyes more times than her entire life together. Upholding her shy disguise had become more and more difficult and she wished for nothing more than for Kate to return.

Finally, she heard some commotion and a minute later, Janine walked into the living room…without Kate. And strangely, she had an entire new set of clothes on.

Auntie Marsh let out one of those eerie chuckles again, adding "Is it done?"

"Yes, my dear Eleanor," answered the blond woman, a bit of sorrow chiming with every syllable.

Her bad feeling now dominating everything, Max let her shyness fall, saying coldly "Where is Kate?"

"Come!" replied Janine plainly, "I'll bring you to her."

Though Max sensed that she was walking into a trap, she followed Kate's mother, Auntie Marsh following them. The blonde led her down some stairs, into the basement and with every step the eerie chuckle of Eleanor turned more and more into a crazy cackle.

A whiff of death and decay was crawling up her nose and instinctively, Max became hyper-aware, realizing that something was very off.

Honestly, Max was prepared for a lot of things, but not for the horror that was awaiting her as she entered the torture chamber. If the sight of freshly used torture equipment wasn't shocking enough, seeing her beloved Katie's bloodied and mangled, limp, lifeless body sitting on a spiked, wooden chair let the young brunette freeze in shock.

Ripped out nails, cuts, steel nails driven through her tiny hands, bruises, broken and twisted fingers, and many other severe injuries were painting a picture of cruel, unimaginable agony.

Max asked herself how long it had taken and how much pain her beloved Kate had to endure until her mind got broken. A lot, she guessed, evident by the amount of wounds.

"We cleansed her body from evil," mentioned Janine and once more, there was a lot of sorrow in her voice, like she regretted what she had done, in contrary to Eleanor.

"Praised be the Lord!" she cheered, putting her hands up in the air. "He freed our Kate from the devil and took her into his heavenly kingdom!"

"And now it's my turn, isn't it?" said Max dryly with a scoff. She knew the answer and didn't wait for it, but froze time. As she turned around, she saw that Eleanor was already about to stab her in the back with a dagger, which was crafted mainly from silver, white gold and lots of gems, while the shiny blade had some Latin words engraved in it.

The freckled girl ripped the blade out of her fat hand, not caring that some fingers didn't stay attached and punched her so strong in the face that she felt bones and teeth break, went back to the living room and sat down onto the couch, where she had been sitting before.

 **Rewind!**


	12. Chapter 11: Let's Head on…or off!

**Chapter 11: Let's Head on…or off!**

James Amber sat in his office, a half-empty bottle of sherry right beside an open file, at which he had stared now for over three hours straight.

As it knocked on the door, he quickly put the bottle back in the drawer and shoved the now closed file under another pile of documents.

"Come in!"

Right on cue, the door opened and Darryl Andrews walked into the office, his eyes tired and his body almost slumped in exhaustion.

"James, I'm going home and you should do the same!"

"You do that, Darryl," the DA, however, replied and picked another file from the desk. But before he even had the chance to read it, the bunch of paper got ripped out of his hands.

"James," said Andrews, leaning over the desk towards James Amber to underline his words, "since you waltzed into the office with those files, we're working overtime. Most of the others already left last night and…James, it's Saturday and we all need a break! Especially, you!"

Though he knew his assistant was right, James just shook his and exhaled loudly into his cupped hands. "Darryl, I can't. These files are the missing link between those incidents and I need to solve this! You can go ahead, enjoy the rest of the weekend and come back on Monday, but I need to stay."

"And what about Rose? You think you help her by drowning yourself in work?"

Out of a sudden, the DA jumped up, yelling "I'm doing this for her, too!" before slumping back on his chair. "And for Rachel," he added quietly and took out the bottle of alcohol again, which got ripped out of his hand by Darryl right away.

"James, I'm watching you for some time now and this case takes more of you than it should. The involvement of your daughter has biased you too much to keep on working like that!"

Knowing what was coming now, James Amber just shook his head in defeat. "Darryl, please don't do this!"

But his assistant stayed adamant. "I have ears and eyes, James. The entire office is already talking about your obsession with this case. How you bunker yourself in your office, even over night. Your drinking. Honestly, James, how many bottles did you kill today?" In shame, the DA let his gaze drop, already knowing the devastating answer. "It can't go on like this. You're destroying yourself…and your marriage!"

Upon the last statement, the older man looked at his protégé in aghast. Now it was clear that Rose had her hands in this as well. That everyone was seeing how the case took too much of him. That he needed a break. That he needed to take a step back. That solving the case would cost him more than he was ready to sacrifice. Rachel would still be dead and even the thought of losing his beloved wife as well, let him finally see the truth.

"You're right, Darryl," James eventually said with reason, and pulled Rachel's file out from under the pile of paper while standing up, reaching it to his assistant with a determine demeanor. "I trust you with this folder. Please, keep this as confidential as possible. Rose already suffered too much from this!"

After giving the file a short glimpse, Darryl Andrews nodded in agreement, saying "I'll make sure that it won't fall into the wrong hands!"

"Thank you!" was James last response, right before he grabbed his jacket and made his way home. Neither Darryl nor his wife knew that he had anticipated this situation beforehand and had already started his own investigation.

* * *

The shackles were slowly cutting into her wrists while her sinews got stretched hurtfully as her arms had to endure the pull of Kate's entire bodyweight. Tears were already drawing wet lines on her face as the poor girl recited another prayer with a trembling voice and shivering lips.

Janine Marsh had already brought forth a variety of torture instruments and thought about which she should use on her daughter's naked body right now. She chose a long, pointy needle for the start.

"M-mom…please!" pleaded Kate, seeing the dreadful instrument in her mother's hand. But she just received another merciless glare.

"You're a sinner, Katie! You've sinned so much! The video, your strange behavior and now you even brought another sinner into our home."

Slowly, Janine closed in on her daughter, who was trying to fight her restrains without any success. The small girl screamed out loud as the needle pierced through her upper arm. Small droplets of blood were running along the cold metal and falling to the ground as they had reached the end.

"Tell me, Kate, have you sinned with her, too? Did she plant the seed of evil and everlasting damnation into you? Has she already taken your precious purity? Answer me! Confess your sins and ask for forgiveness and your agony will be over in no time!"

Loud sobs and sniffs are chiming through the chamber. Everyone would've thought that she would be broken by now, but instead, Kate simply gave her mother the most evil glare she could muster.

"F-fuck you! I love Max and I gladly gave her my virginity, because she's the one. She cares about me! And you, Eleanor and the Lord can go and fuck each other! So, bring it on, bitch!"

She had thought it would be easy. She had thought it would be quick. She had thought that it wouldn't take much for her fragile daughter to break and eventually end this whole situation in minutes. Yet, it wasn't the case. Kate resisted. Or even worse: she had spat blasphemy right into her face!

Now entirely shocked by her daughter's blasphemous words and the fact that she needed to continue her art of unimaginable agony, Janine needed some time to shake off the pity she felt for her daughter.

"Oh Katie," she eventually said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry that I have to do this! But I have to relieve your body from your sins, so that your soul might be welcomed to the Lord's heavenly kingdom."

As her next torture device she chose a scalpel, the shiny blade reflecting the white, artificial light into Janine's face, which intensified her mad glare even more.

As her mother closed in again, Kate gasped aloud, her eyes dilated in horror.

An object hit the stony ground right in front of Janine's feet with a clattering sound. After a short glimpse, she recognized it as Eleanor's bloodstained dagger.

"I see you already sent her to the ever-burning flames of hell," said Kate's mother with a slight smile, which faltered on the spot as it wasn't Eleanor's voice that chimed from behind.

"Well, this crazy, old hag had it comin'!"

Janine hadn't even been able to put those emotionless words in a common sense as Auntie Marsh's head hit the floor right beside the fancy, sharp weapon that had cut it from her chubby body.

Her entire being trembling out of fear, the blonde woman couldn't do anything else than to stare into the half-open, twisted eyes of her sister-in-law. The already pale, partially wrinkled skin was splattered with blood while the long tongue hung out of the agape mouth.

Slowly, she turned around, whispering a prayer as she expects the same fate as Eleanor. But Max, also sprinkled in blood from head to toe, stood a few feet away. Unarmed, her merciless gaze fixed on the older woman.

"Release her!" Max simply demanded, knowing that Janine was way too shocked to even showing a faint of struggle.

Immediately, she unlocked the chain and freed her daughter from the shackles, which had already drawn red lines on young girls wrists.

After giving her mother a hard punch in the face, which sent her to the ground, Kate ran towards her girlfriend and embraced her tightly, not caring that the blood on Max's body was now rubbing off on her bare pale skin. As she felt the soothing warmth of her beloved one, the blonde began to sob loudly.

Max, who was just glad to have her beloved Katie back, closed her eyes, inhaled her girlfriend's scent and brushed over her soft skin. She had saved her, but her task wasn't done, yet.

"C'mon, do it! Pick it up!" she suddenly said and broke the hug to glance at the blonde woman, who was reaching for the dagger.

Blinded by her bigotry, Janine grabbed the hilt, only to let the blade drop again as her hand withered away like a flower in fast-forward. After the first shock had abated, she touched the crumbling remains and cried out in pain.

Being aware of Max's powers and not even feeling a glimpse of pity for her mother, Kate just stared at the scene in front of her, while Max closed in on the whining woman.

"I won't kill you, Janine! No, I'll entomb you in this nice chamber of yours and then there will be two options. A: The police will find the bloody mess upstairs and later you with all the evidence they need to bust your sorry ass. Or B: They won't find you. And believe me; your husband won't put his ass on the line only to save you, because he rather keeps all this secret than confessing this to Carla and Lynn."

Realizing that reasoning with Max would be a lost endeavor, Janine Marsh looked pleadingly at her daughter. "Katie, please! The Lord demanded this from us. We were chosen to spread and uphold his light in this dark, sinful world. Help me and all your sins will be forgiven as soon as we cleansed this demon's incarnation right there!"

Even more bigotry flaming in her blue eyes, Janine pointed at a rather unimpressed Max. But instead of having any positive effect on her daughter, Kate got furious, picked up her aunt's knife and began to stab wildly at her mother's chest, hissing "Give the Lord my regards when he sends your rotten soul to hell!"

Max watched how her girlfriend sat on Janine's crotch and let the sharp blade frantically sink into her own mother's upper body until it was nothing more than a bloody, indistinct mass. Even a few entrails were peeking out of her belly.

She witnessed how Kate dropped the red-stained dagger and turned around. Her breathing was heavy and madness had entirely taken over, evident by her twitching pupils. This wasn't the Kate she loved. It simply wasn't her innocent Katie anymore. So, she lifted her right hand to stop her beloved one from crossing the border of insanity.

 **Rewind!**

* * *

The pleading screams of Janine Marsh went instantly silent as the heavy secret door closed. With her powers, Max made sure that the lock would never budge anymore, at least, until someone would use C4 to blast it open.

For one last time, both glimpsed at the hidden passage, before they made their way upstairs.

Kate's gaze was fixed on something in front of her bare feet. Her naked body shivered and had goosebumps out of coldness while her left hand clutched her right upper arm, in which the long needle was still sticking out.

"C'mon, you can't go to a party like this!" said Kate, a faint, warm smile on her lips as she took Max's hand softly and led her further upstairs and into the bathroom.

The entire way, the brunette gazed at Kate's injury, feeling anger and the need to be there for her even more.

Eventually, they had reached their destination and after Kate had turned on the water of the shower to let it warm up, her wounded arm got gently grabbed by her girlfriend.

"Do you trust me?" asked Max with determination and, of course, Kate nodded and said "Always!"

Of everything the blonde could've thought of what Max would do, just ripping the giant needle out of her arm wasn't one of them. Screaming and pulling her arm out of the brunette's grip, Kate turned away and already wanted to yell every known curse at Max, but got spun around by her again.

"Hold still!" she stated calmly and swatted away the now bleeding girl's hand and put her own on it. Then, Max closed her eyes and focused.

"Wh-what are you…argh!" Kate wanted to say, but was groaning as some strange heat was flooding her arm, abating more and more with every passing second until it was entirely gone as well as the pain from the wound.

After Max lifted her right hand off Kate's arm, it was entirely healed. No blood. No injury. Just nothing, but perfect soft skin.

Now entirely stunned upon this miracle, the blonde only managed to stammer "Wh-wha-…?! H-how…?!"

"I figured, if I can make things older, I should also be able to make them younger again," explained the young brunette with a wry smile and a shrug.

Most people would've freaked upon the awareness of such miraculous powers, but Kate simply leaned in and gave her loved on a passionate kiss, followed by a soft "Thank you!" before she began to slowly strip off Max's bloodstained clothes.

First, her gray hoodie. Then, her pink shirt and white bra. And finally, her blue jeans and purple pantie, as well as her socks and shoes. Now both entirely naked, they stepped under the stream of hot water.

Taking some soap, Kate started to wash Max's body from head to toe with very tender strokes. Those touches were sometimes so gently that they sent electrical waves of heat and arousal through her entire being, making her breathing become trembling. Soon, soft moans were escaping her mouth as Kate gave her butt and crotch her full attention. But before her girlfriend's fingers were able to reach her center, Max stopped her by grapping her wrist.

"You really wanna do this now?" she asked with a frown, being a bit surprised that Kate was in the mood for sex after what she had just experienced. But what surprised her even more was Kate's answer.

"Max, this world is a horrible place. Wherever we go we see death and agony. There's just no escape! The only thing we can do is seizing the moment and share it with those we love!" She paused for a few seconds, breathing deeply in and out before she touched Max's chest right above her heavy beating heart. "I love you, Max! Since the first time I saw you it was instant love. Being together with you; sharing those intimate moments lets me escape! Lets us escape! And right now…" Kate leaned in for another kiss. It was warm, tender, so full of love, without any unnecessary lust. "…Right now, I need to escape or else I'll break apart!"

Even a minute after those words had left Kate's mouth, Max simply stood there, not moving a limb. It wasn't because of the confession of love. No, she had heard that before. It wasn't the pragmatic fact that the world was a murderous madhouse. She already knew that by herself. It was simply the fact that Kate was like her, before she got broken by Theresa.

Fragile. On the edge. The entire world out to get her. Ready to snap and kill everyone. A few years ago, the love to Theresa had been everything to keep Max on the save side. And now it was Max's turn to give Kate this much wanted and needed love to keep her in the realm of sanity. But in contrary to Theresa, she would never leave or betray her!

"Max?"

Not abrupt, but cautiously, carried Kate's voice Max back to reality. With a warm smile she embraced her beloved girlfriend tightly and kissed her with as much love as possible.

Everything was okay! They were okay! And Max would do everything to keep it that way!

* * *

"Everything's gonna be fine! Just stick to the plan, Katie! Go get Chloe and the…the…Ugh, what did she call it again…? Doesn't matter! Just get that stuff and wait!" spoke Kate to herself while she was driving back to the RV in Chloe's truck. She was edgy, being in a state of post-sex high from her one hour in the shower with Max and absolutely afraid of the ahead laying party-night.

After both had finished cleaning each other from the blood of Auntie Marsh, and Max had let crumble her garments to dust, both were in need for some new clothing. Luckily, they both had the same size, except from their cup size. But Max didn't bother to wear a bra, anyway.

As soon as they had picked the right clothing, Max and Kate had left the Marsh's house and headed straight into town to have a nice lunch before driving to Blackwell, where Kate had dropped off her girlfriend and then continued her journey.

It was now around 3 pm, so plenty of time till the party would start and Kate had to be at the location. Actually, she wanted to be there as soon as possible. Just in case something would go wrong and her stomach warned her that something would definitely go wrong!

"She has godlike powers! Nothing will go wrong! So, chill Kate!" she chided herself once more as she had reached the RV and put the truck in _Park_.

Still in deep in thoughts, she sauntered towards the RV and unlocked it as soon as she had reached the door. Though she didn't care about Chloe, Kate still figured that the punky girl might need some food.

She was just about to open up a can of beans as draft brushed through her hair and she realized that the hatch right above her stood wide open. Being a person with a very good memory, Kate immediately knew that something was way off, which was proven to be right as she opened the door of the bathroom and found it empty.

"Oh no!" she gasped and took a step back. She just wanted to turn around and call her girlfriend as she suddenly felt the cold, shiny steel of a knife on her throat, ready to draw some blood.

* * *

Her gaze scanned the reflection in the mirror and Max was pretty sure, she never looked so awesome before.

One of Katie's dark-blue skirts and a slightly oversized, white button shirt, plus a purple hoodie and the young brunette almost looked like an anime-character.

"Ready to party, Max!" she said quietly with a smug smile, "Let's give 'em a _hell_ of a party!"

Putting on her façade of innocent shyness, Max grabbed her cam-bag and made her way to Courtney's room. The black-haired with the purple strands had offered to drive her to the party and back to Blackwell again, so that Max would be able to drink something.

But Max knew better. She knew that they want to drug her and then take a porn video of her, getting gangbanged.

' _Let's see who laughs at last, bitches!'_

With her knuckles, she knocked at the room door, which got opened by Taylor immediately. Thankfully, she and Courtney were dressed this time, sparing Max the need to vomit.

"Hey Max, come in!" spoke the blonde, also wearing a skirt, combined with a silk shirt and a jeans jacket. Add the cheap jewelry to it and Taylor looked like Taylor…only even sluttier.

Courtney, on the other hand, was dressed in a fancy black overall and her accessories were sparse and well chosen. All-in-all, she looked rather beautiful and decent, making clear that she didn't need to overcompensate anything. A move, Max never would've expected of her.

"Um…h-hey guys!" said the shy brunette, walking into the room with cautious steps. She hadn't even passed Taylor, who was holding the door open, as she felt a hot sting in her butt.

An intense heat was rushing through her entire body and immediately all strength left her, forcing Max to go down on all four. She knew this feeling; had already experienced it as Jefferson had kidnapped her.

"Ugh, you sneaky cunts!" groaned Max with gritted teeth as she tried to fight the drowsiness. She focused, trying to influence time, but somehow the drugs interfered with her powers.

"Look at that, Sweet-T!" chimed Courtney's fawning voice; her steps are closing in. "We've got ourselves a real minx here!"

"Yeah," answered the blonde with amusement, "never thought she could be that way. I mean, look at her getup! Sexy and ready for a fuck!"

She felt some soft brushes over her back, trailing down to her butt until her cheeks got kneaded.

"Y'know, T, I wanna have some fun off camera with this little slut before we feed her to the hungry wolves!" purred Courtney and let her hand wander under Max's skirt, where it began to brush over her private parts.

"Oh I so agree with you, Court!" replied Taylor, giggling as she pulled down Max's panties. "Gosh, look at that sweet pussy! So cute, but also hairy. You should've shaved, you little cunt!"

A vast rush of disgust flooded through the brunette, letting her at least get control over her body one last time. She jumped up, grabbed Courtney by the collar of her dress and gazed with a death-stare into her from fear dilated eyes, while hissing into her face.

"You're gonna pay for that!"

And then, there was only darkness and Taylor's scoffed "Yeah…sure, slut!" fading in the distance.


	13. Chapter 12: The Roof…The Roof is on Fire

**Chapter 12: The Roof…The Roof is on Fire!**

Slowly, the sharp blade dug into her soft skin, inducing a uncomfortable pressure. But it didn't injure her. At least, not yet.

"The keys…please!" chimed Chloe's voice right beside her ear, her whiffed breath brushing over it.

A demanding hand shoved its way into Kate's line of sight and as the pressure on her throat intensified a bit, she fished the keys out of her pocket and laid them on Chloe's palm, which got appreciated with a kind "Thanks, dude!"

"A-and what now? You gonna kill me? You know that Max…" said Kate defiantly, but got interrupted right away.

"But Max isn't here, and as far as I understand this time-altering shit, it proofs that I'm not gonna kill you. Buuut…I thought about havin' some fun with ya, since you liked being watched by me."

With groan of anger, Kate freed herself from the bluenette's grasp and pushed her away. "I never liked being watched by you! I liked seeing you suffer, you stupid bitch. Now, do what you have to do or fuck off!"

"Alright," Chloe simply replied with a shrug and a victorious smirk, grabbed the smaller blonde by her neck and threw her out of the RV.

With a shriek, followed by a groan and thud, Kate hit the dirt, Chloe's mockingly spoken "See ya, bitch!" chiming from behind, before the door shut close. With spinning tires, the RV sped away, leaving the blonde behind.

For a moment she thought about following Chloe, but what would be the use of that? Firstly, she didn't know how to stop her and, secondly, she still needed to help Max.

Sighing deeply and fighting down the sadness of losing hers and Max's new home, Kate loaded a bunch of close-by canisters onto the bed of the truck and drove off to the rendezvous-point.

* * *

There was something in her mouth. It felt strange and as soon as Max's receptors were back online, she also realized a funny taste. The thing was moving around, trying to hit deeper. Then, her hearing came back online and she heard some loud music and voices.

"OMG, Hayden! I wanna sell this vid online, so at least act like you're enjoying this!"

' _Courtney!'_

"I wanna, but her teeth are grinding over my dick. It's already sore as fuck."

' _Hayden! Wait…! Did he just say that his DICK is grinding over my teeth?!'_

Now realizing what was happening to her, Max's entire being went into panic-mode. Luckily, almost every muscle still denied its service, giving her time to think things through.

Evident from the slight pressure on her back, she was laying on said one, probably on the ground or a table, a vulnerable position where she could easily be overwhelmed in her current state.

Therefore, she shut down her need to defend herself and decided to patiently wait like a predator, who's observing its prey. During this time, she tensed and eased her muscles cautiously to bring them back into shape. And she listened. Listened to every word.

[Taylor]: "C'mon, Hayden, man up and finally squirt on this slut's tits! We need this cumshot!"

[Hayden]: (groaning slightly) "How about you blow me one and then I squirt on her?"

[Taylor]: "Two hundred bucks and we have a deal!"

[Zack]: "Hey Court, can I go down on her pussy, yet? 'cause I'm so ready to fuck that whore!"

[Courtney]: "Yeah, do that! We can use the close-ups to bridge the time until Hayden finally gets off."

[Zack]: (joyfully) "Get ready to get your cherry popped, slut!"

Now, Max got back on full alert. She had been ready to endure a lot, even getting facefucked, but there was no freaking way that someone would shove his dirty dick into her vagina.

One last time she tested the status of all her muscles.

She felt that someone was spreading her legs and rubbed her sex.

[Zack]: "She's still dry as fuck. Gimme some lube!"

Her body was far away from working on full strength, but it had to do. Now, she needed to focus all her energy to wake up and be ready to fight in one blow.

A cold liquid was dripping on her private section, the uncomfortable feeling making her gather all her willpower to not flail out. And then something was rubbing over her sex, boldly and without any tenderness, before she eventually felt an unpleasant pressure against her entrance. That was the trigger!

With all her strength she bit on that penis in her mouth. A loud scream sounded while blood was filling her oral cavity, almost making her choke. But Max kept on biting until the last bit of muscle was cut.

Max opened her eyes and saw how Hayden stumbled backwards, holding his bloodied crotch, until he tripped over his half-down pants and fell with his head on a table, which silenced his screams as it cracked audibly.

Zack, who was in shock, had the tip of his penis still on Max's entrance. So, the brunette crawled away from him as fast as possible to prevent any further endeavor into this direction.

"Get that crazy bitch!" yelled Courtney, which let Zack snap out of it right away, his need to take Max's virginity unbroken.

He jumped at the smaller brunette and – due to his very muscular football-body – pinned her to the ground with ease. The stronger opponent was just about to continue his work as Max spat that piece of Hayden's penis plus the blood directly into Zack's face.

With a loud groan of disgust and entirely blinded, he let go of the brunette, trying to wipe his face clean. Max used this opportunity to ram her knee thrice into his testicles, knocking him out cold as he was busier with groaning and holding his crotch.

Wasting no time, Max eventually got up and tried to hold her balance, making her waver as she used this short moment nobody was pestering her to scan the situation.

Of course she was at that party. Shitty music, stupid light effects, a fucked-up crowd, some raping…just your ordinary Vortex shindig.

Max was standing in the middle of everything, the crowd forming a circle of staring eyes around her scarce dressed body.

The white button shirt – now decorated with red spots – hang lose over her shoulders, her top gone and her bare chest visible in the cleavage. Gone as well were her socks, shoes and pantie, so that only her black skirt was covering her private section.

The brunette's eyes fell upon Courtney and Taylor, who were both looking at her with angry glares.

"Can somebody just catch this whore and then finally do her?!" called Courtney out again and the first one who slowly approached her was Logan, already fumbling with the zipper of his pants.

"Lemme tell ya what, girl," he said with a smirk, "Why don't you just relax and I'll go soft on you, hmm?"

The situation was out of control. Nothing worked like intended. Wanting to undo everything that had happened so far, Max raised her right hand. But as much as she focused, the entire room around her just flickered for a moment, time jumping back and forth. But that's it, nothing more. Nonetheless she wouldn't go down without a fight!

Logan was about to touch her with his hands, especially aiming for Max's breasts, as the brunette grabbed his wrist tightly and slammed her forehead against his nose.

Feeling dizzy from the impact, Max stumbled backwards while Logan's body hit the ground. He was dead, his nasal bone buried in his brain.

Blood was now dripping over the young girl's face from a tiny wound on her forehead and mixed with Hayden's, which was still smeared around Max's mouth.

Yet, she still stood her ground, hissing angrily "You're all going to die!" as she suddenly felt a rush running through her being and the well known tickle in the fingertips of her right hand, indicating the return of her powers.

Having witnessed the death of two of their friends, the entire crowd was about to storm in on Max, who, however, vanished with a smirk, only to reappear in front of Courtney with a broken bottle. With all her strength she rammed the pointy glass into the black-haired girl's stomach.

She gasped and immediately dropped her camera as the intense pain ran through the bitchy body. Right in front of her face – their noses almost touching – was Max, glancing at her without any emotion.

"I told you, you're gonna pay for touching me, you abusing piece of shit!" she whispered eerily, tightened her grip around the bottleneck and sliced the bladelike shards across Courtney's entire stomach before she disappeared again.

With in shock wide open, watery eyes the black-haired girl was now the center of everyone's attention. At first, she held her belly tightly, but as seconds passed by, strength left her, letting her arms fall limp to the sides and allowed her intestines to flow out of her body.

Witnessing this, panic broke out among the people. Everyone was running away from the scene and for an exit, like headless chicken, only to realize that each and every one of them was locked or barricaded, which induced even more panic.

In the meantime, Max had strangled the DJ with the cord of his headphones and took his place at the turntables. But before she put on some more music, she spoke into the mic, which carried her most dooming voice throughout the entire building.

" _You bullied others for fun! You laughed at shy, introverted kids without giving a damn about how they might feel. You judged people without knowing them. You abused them and drove them into suicide. YOU created me and now it's time for some justice! Prepare to die!"_

If anyone would've thought the mass hysteria couldn't get any worse, had been entirely wrong. The most inner survival instinct became alive in each and everyone of the party guests, letting them give a damn about the people around them.

Max froze time and sauntered through the mass of people. She took in moments and details, saving them in her memory.

' _Funny, how most people don't even give a shit about their friends when their life's at stake.'_ thought Max as she saw numerous bodies, already laying on the floor. Trampled to death by the very people they once cared about.

In the middle of all this chaos, Max found Courtney's camera, bloodied and surrounded by its former owner's small intestine. She picked it up, sat down on the back of an injured Vortex member, who was on all fours, and browsed through the pictures and videos.

The latest material was all about her. How they had brought her to the party; first scenes of her abuse. Another video showed how Courtney and Taylor had used her as their sex puppet. All this didn't really bother her until she stumbled over some pictures of Kate and immediately she felt the burning desire to find Taylor and kill her very slowly.

* * *

' _Curses! Why hasn't she given me a message, yet'_ cussed Kate internally, gazing at her phone for the umpteenth time. The loud music from inside the old warehouse was chiming through the surroinding landscape and indicated that the party was on its peak. As planned, the blonde had parked the truck close by and leaned against the front as she was waiting for a signal from her girlfriend. But so far, nothing.

More than once, Kate had thought about to join the party and be with Max the entire time, protecting her if necessary or at least watching her handiwork of revenge on those Vortex Club assholes.

Nervously, she reached behind her back and pulled a black Colt 1911 from the waistband of her blue jeans. Kate had found the gun while she had searched Frank's RV for some clean cutlery and had kept it secretly for herself ever since. Actually, she had kept it in case Max's plan wouldn't work and one certain person would escape. Inside, she really hoped that this particular person would survive, so that she could take revenge on her own!

To be entirely sure, she repeated what she had been practicing for the last hours.

Kate pushed the magazine release button, which let the magazine drop out from the bottom if the gun. She caught it and checked that it's fully loaded before putting it aside. With all her strength she managed to pull back the sled and locked it. After checking that the chamber is empty, the young blonde put the magazine back inside, closed the gun – therefore loading it – and switched the safety on.

' _You got this!'_ she told herself, _'Always remember what they said and showed in those videos!'_

Some loud screams were piercing through the noisy music, getting louder and more intense by the minute.

' _It has begun!'_

Quickly, Kate put the gun back in the waistband and then pulled out her phone. While running towards the building with the mass-hysterical crowd, she typed a message and sent it.

* * *

As she witnessed in horror how her best friend and lover's intestines hit the ground with a squishy sound, Taylor almost wetted herself and feared that the same fate was awaiting her. So, she turned on the spot and ran away. Unfortunately, all the others had the same idea as they rushed towards the exit.

Though it sometimes seemed that way, Taylor wasn't stupid and quickly left the dense crowd and searched for an alternative to get out of that death-trap. But every possible exit had been barricaded and the induced chaos peaked even more as Max's eerie voice chimed through the building.

" _You bullied others for fun! You laughed at shy, introverted kids without giving a damn about how they might feel. You judged people without knowing them…"_

Out of a sudden Taylor felt the phone buzzing in her handbag. Right away she pulled it out and read the message.

[Unknown]: _emergency ladder on the roof. quick!_

Not giving it a deeper thought and her survival instinct fully engaged, Taylor made her way to the closest stairs, shoving and pushing anyone aside who was in her way, not caring if she hurt anybody or let alone thinking about telling anyone of this possible exit.

As she had reached the top of the stairs, a vast fiery explosion blasted the front door open and set almost the entire first floor ablaze. Feeling this intense heat on her skin, Taylor wasn't able to hold her urine anymore as she had to watch how burning people ran around and the screams had turned into a deafening noise.

Her body flooded with adrenaline, she ran across the top floor until she had reached the access to the roof. In a fast pace, she made her way up the ladder, opened the hatch and climbed onto the roof, the sickening smell of burning flesh following her.

With a loud crack, one of her heels broke through the surface. Sharp splinters of rotten wood and rusty metal were burying into the flesh of her calf as half of her leg sunk in as well. Under screams she pulled the bloodied limb out again and kept on stumbling towards the emergency ladder, finally reaching it a minute later.

Cautiously and under pain she climbed down, the heat from within the building making her sweat. She had almost reached the bottom of the building as the metallic ladder became so hot that bubbles were forming on the skin of her palms. Unable to hold on anymore, she fell the last few remaining feet with a shriek.

For a few seconds she laid on the dirty ground and started to crawl away from the intense heat. Only as she heard some steps closing in she looked up and saw how Kate Marsh was pointing a gun at her.

Not seeing the smaller girl as a real threat, the blonde tried to get up, but as a shot chimed and a 45-caliber projectile shattered her kneecap, she screamed out of pain and slumped back into the dirt, rolling on her back while holding her leg.

"Do you even know what you've done to me?" asked Kate with gritted teeth, sending another bullet into Taylor's right shoulder. "You thought I was asleep. Thought I was out of it. But tell you what…" A third projectile was now piercing her pelvis, right where her leg started. "I was awake. I felt and heard everything! How you made fun of me. How you touched me. How you…how you…"

Out of a sudden, Kate began to sob intensively and it almost seemed like she would break down, but instead, all her emotions erupted in one big blow.

"You fucking bitch took my virginity!" she yelled and let a barrage of kicks hammer onto the wounded girl, making her groan in agony even more.

"I wanted to give it to Max. It belonged to her and I wanted to give it to her as a symbol of my unconditional love, but you ruined it! You took the most precious decision in life away from me! You forced me to lie to her, because I feel so ashamed!"

Taylor was now nothing more than a whimpering, wounded, bloodstained mess. Broken and done. The only thing she was able to stammer was "I-I'm so-…"

The bitchy girl wasn't even able to finish her apology as Kate shot the remaining five bullets into her head, splattering her brain all over the ground and therefore ending her life.

Trembling and sobbing, Kate dropped the pistol and embraced her own body, as suddenly, someone grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.

* * *

For a long, quiet moment, Max and Kate gazed at each other, embraced by the light and heat of the fire. But while Kate simply averted eye contact, Max glimpsed over her shoulder at Taylor's corpse and then back at her girlfriend.

The brunette raised the other girl's head by softly touching her chin and looked deeply into her red-cried eyes. To her surprise, she didn't find any madness, but shame and sadness.

"It's okay!" she eventually said with a soothing voice and embraced Kate tightly. "Want me to undo it?"

It was an offer; an option; a chance to wash the blood from her hands, but Kate just shook her head and gazed at her girlfriend once more. This time with determination.

"No! Since that one night I'd wished so much to finally get even. I wanted to do this! I wanted her blood on my hands! And I don't regret it. I just…I just regret that I had to lie to you."

"You never lied to me, Katie!" answered Max and took her girlfriend's hands, intertwining their fingers. The wailing sound of sirens was now mixing with the remaining screams from inside the burning building.

Out of a sudden, the entire world went crazy around Kate. It was like she had been sucked into a vortex and was spit out a second later. If Max wouldn't have held her, she would've lost her balance.

But her loved one's grip was tight around her shoulder, pressing the blonde even closer, as both watched how the flames of the old warehouse raised high into the night's sky.

Just now Kate realized that Max had teleported them both to a nearby hill, overlooking the scenery. But she didn't bother to ask how or what she had done. They were both in safety, and this was everything that mattered to her.

First blue-blinking lights were approaching the devastating fire, but both – Max and Kate – knew that every help would come too late.

"Nice job with the napalm-charges!" said Max plainly, giving Kate a slight peck on the cheek.

"Thanks, my love!" replied Kate, laying her head on the other girl's shoulder before she sighed. "Chloe took our RV. She…somehow she freed herself and…"

"It doesn't matter!" interrupted her Max with a stern glare. "None of what happened here matters anymore. From today on, we're leaving everything behind! We will go someplace else and live in peace. Without bullying assholes. Just the two of us! Forever!"

The Vortex Club was no more as well as everyone who had been thriving in its wake. Their revenge was now completed and Kate's being allowed to get flooded with love and relief. She leaned in and kissed Max passionately, not caring about the dried blood on her mouth.

"Sounds great!" she whispered in reply and laid her head back on Max's shoulder. But instead of gazing at the fire, she looked at a bright future ahead of them. A future of love and hope.


	14. (A rather long) Epilogue

**(A rather long) Epilogue**

A few months later…

Somewhere in Southern California

A naked woman emerged from the floods. The waves were crushing against her, from hours of swimming, well-trained, tanned body, giving the 19-year-old with the short, red-dyed hair a slight push towards the lonely beach in the middle of nowhere.

Close-by stood an old RV with a camping chair and table in front of it. First destination of the young woman was the table, from which she, at first, picked up a bottle of beer and emptied it, and secondly her phone.

"Three more customers," she mumbled to herself, tapping something into the phone before she entered her home.

Being all alone, she didn't even bother to cover her body. She loved being naked and living this south had the advantage of a lot of warm weather.

"Hello, Chloe!" it suddenly chimed from behind, startling Chloe Price and let her spin around. On the spare seat in the front of the vehicle sat James Amber, gazing at the punk-girl emotionlessly.

"James?!" said Chloe, still catching some air from the last shock. "Wh-what're ya doin' here?"

Instead of answering the question, the older man stood up and sauntered through the RV, scanning the quite fancy interior.

"You weren't easy to find. Had to pull quite some strings to track you down."

"Well, that was the plan," Chloe replied with a shrug and pulled two beers out of the fridge, reaching one towards James. "Beer?"

Rachel's father, however, shook his head and continued the sightseeing, while Chloe, who was leaning against the counter of the kitchen, opened the bottle and took a big swig.

"So, again: What brings you into my hella humble home?" she asked once more, but this time with some urge. Yet, she had to wait for the answer until James had sat down at the table and pointed at the opposite side.

"I want to talk with you," he said plainly, but instead of simply sitting down, Chloe just looked at him with a frown and gulped down the rest of her beer.

"I get paid by the hour, you know?"

"Yes," James replied without judgment, "I already heard you became a prostitute for a living."

"Escort!" the red-head threw in. "Pervy, old men like you hire me to be their arm candy for some hella fancy-pansy party." After a pause, she added "The girlfriend-experience costs twice as much."

"So, prostitution is an option."

Hearing the word _prostitution_ again, Chloe straightened her body and lost her temper.

"Dude! I'm not some cheep hooker, standing on the fucking boardwalk! I get paid a shitpile of money just for acting like some old fart got lucky with a hot gal; no fucking included. But sometimes they want more and I'm not ashamed to rent my body to the right fucker for another fuckload of dough, as long as it get's my bills paid!" To underline her words and put some pressure behind them, the tall girl slammed her hands on the table and leaned in. "So, either, you pay and talk or you get the fuck outta my home!"

Being unimpressed by this outbreak, James Amber pulled out a stack of money, holding it in front of Chloe's face.

"Will this be enough to get your full attention?"

Snapping out of her rage and eyeballing the green bills in front of her, Chloe eventually snaps them out of James' hand and counts the money.

"You got my full attention, Mr. Amber!" she said politely with a smirk and put the money into small safe with a combination lock.

"Good! Now get dressed and sit down…and make me a coffee!"

Getting ordered around, but still were being forced to do her job, Chloe groaned and rolled her eyes in annoyance. After she had put on some shorts and a bikini, the red-haired woman made some instant-coffee for her client and sat down at the table as well, pulled out a cigarette from a pack that was laying on it and lighted the tobacco.

"Let's talk about Rachel, shall we!" started James Amber, inducing another sigh of annoyance by Chloe as she exhaled some smoke. Still, she was bound to her profession and had no other choice than to stay.

"If we have to," she scoffed, pressing the half-smoked cig into the ashtray. "But don't expect me to talk fond of that cheatin' bitch!"

Though James twitched a bit as he heard the rant against his late daughter, he tried to remain professional. "I simply want to know your perspective of the events, revolving my daughter. I want to know why she had changed so much. And, especially, how it could come to this tragedy of her demise."

"Why don't you ask this yourself? Me, I was just used by her like everybody else. She actually was like you…lying, disguising, getting rid of those who seemed to be a threat. A real…fucking…actress! Well, with Max she found the wrong person to fuck with."

"So, Miss Caulfield killed her?" he kept on asking with suspicion, his hands clenching from time to time.

"Killed her?" Chloe scoffed once more, now taking out a joint and lighted it with shaking hands. "This crazy chick killed a lotta peeps, but Rachel…? Well, let's just say, she let her die."

"And you let her die, too?"

Though not the first time asked, this question caught Chloe off-guard, making her lose her temper once again.

"No! I arrived at the scene when the train had already turned Rach into kebob. If you wanna find a murderous bitch, then go and search this lunatic Caulfield!"

The tension rose, evident by James' trembling hands and the anger, displayed in his face.

"Miss Caulfield is dead. She burned along with a whole bunch of students as their location had been set on fire by some mass-murderer. Forensics is still busy, trying to identify the victims."

"Oh, and lemme guess," spoke Chloe sternly, her sight fixed on the older man's determined glare, "You think it was me, who killed them all, right?"

The tension peaked into eternity. The young woman and the older man, sitting face to face, both their hands moving secretly. James' serious and threatening spoken "Yes!" was like the bell had struck high-noon.

Since starting the job as an Escort, Chloe had realized that not only the pervy and desperate, but also the creepy and psycho kind of people might contact her and therefore armed her sweet behind to the teeth.

She grabbed the pistol, holstered under the table. He, the revolver under his jacket.

Out of instinct, Chloe kicked with her knee the underside of the folding table, letting it jerk upwards. This saved her life as James' already at her pointed gun was thrown aside as the shot broke.

Immediately, the red-head jumped out if her seat and ran to the back of the RV, firing blindly behind her. Another barrage of shots chimed and as she felt a stinging pain in her thigh, Chloe gasped and stumbled into the bedroom. With a groan of anger she kicked the door close with her uninjured leg and took another pistol from under her mattress.

Silence occurred and for a moment Chloe thought that one of her shots might had finished her opponent. But she wanted to make sure before trusting the peace.

"James?" she called, hissing a "dammit!" as the DA answered.

"You're guilty, Chloe! The evidences are clear."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I already had bailed town before this shitshow even started!" retorted Chloe, readying herself to make run for it.

"You're shabby truck had been found close to the warehouse, remnants of napalm in the cargo bed!"

"What?! I left my fuckin' truck behind, asshole! Anybody could've used it!"

"And what about this RV?" James called out, clearly from a different position. "It belonged to Francis Bowers, who had been murdered as well. A coincidence?"

"Shit!" scoffed Chloe quietly, shaking her head in unbelief of this situation. "Then, why are you here? Why didn't you bring the cops if you're so sure it was me?"

"Because I'm off the case and prison wouldn't be enough for you! People like you are a disease and finally need to be wiped off the face of the earth. Nobody knows where you are or that you're even alive, so nobody will miss you anyway and Rachel can finally rest in peace, knowing that your up-to-no-good punk-ass is rotting in hell!"

There was no reasoning. There was no chance to sort things out. James had always been a man of principles; pragmatic and merciless if necessary. These were a few reasons why he was such a successful DA. Chloe just knew that the time of talking was over. It was either her or him.

Taking one last deep inhale, Chloe stood up and kicked open the door. Only, to lose balance on her wounded leg and fall onto her back. This saved her life, since James had expected her standing and was aiming for her upper body.

Chloe used the chance and emptied both of her guns in her opponent's direction, peppering him with several bullet holes. James Amber went down, already dead before hitting the ground.

But in the end, Chloe's luck had to run out eventually as James' cocked revolver hit the floor as well and went off. The bullet hit a cast-iron pan, ricocheted and then hit the red-haired woman right in the head.

* * *

Time…absent…

Location: Paris, France…or at least what's left of it

A tear dripped from her face, hitting the dusty ground to her feet. Dust, which once had been human beings. Women, men, children…it hadn't matter to Max as she had ripped the fabrics of time apart and turned the city into chaotic vortex of decay and destruction.

Buildings which once dominated the characteristic scenery of the city of love were now nothing more than ruins, hundreds of years old. The Eiffel Tower, once a world renounced monument, had been turned into a pile of rusted junk. And in the middle of it, sat Max Caulfield, mourning the death of her beloved Kate, who was laying in her arms.

"Fuckdammit, Caulfield!" chimed Chloe's voice suddenly from beside. "You turned the fuckin' City of Love into a shitpile of crap, dude!"

Though she should be more surprised, Max simply turned her head and frowned at her ex-girlfriend with the red-dyed short hair, dressed in some shorts and bikini, plus a bullet hole in her head.

"What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be dead? Nobody survives in here."

"Well, actually…I am already dead," replied the red-head, pointing at the hole in her skull. "Rachel's dad took the death of his oh-so-perfect bitch of a daughter rather personally and blamed me for everything. At least he bit the dust, too."

Kissing her forehead one last time, Max laid Kate's body cautiously on the ground and stood up, facing Chloe with a stern demeanor. She was about to say something as a loud thunder drew both girl's attention to the sky above.

Several fireballs were heading right at their direction. It wasn't the first time and it won't be the last.

"What is that?" asked Chloe with curiosity, getting a rather grim answer.

"Intercontinental rockets with nuclear warheads. Russian design," mumbled Max like it wasn't something special. And it really wasn't, as the brunette used her powers to turn those objects of mass-destruction into a pile of dust, millions of years old and whiffed away by the wind.

"Daaaamn, they even wanna nuke your sweet ass?!"

Just replying this with a nonchalant shrug, Max gazed at Chloe once more, hissing "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Neither being intimidated nor afraid, Chloe just grinned and pointed towards the sky. "Long story short, someone is pretty pissed at you for fucking up time and space, and I'm just your very familiar face, who tells you to stop this shit."

"She's dead, you here me? Dead! It doesn't matter what I do, Katie simply keeps on dying," Max cried out loud, probably wanting the universe to hear her pain.

"Well, sometimes people die and maybe we need to accept it…"

"No!" the brunette shot back and grabbed Chloe by the strings of her bikini. "Tell the fucking universe, if it doesn't want me to fuck up everything, it should bring my Katie back to life!"

"You know that's impossible," answered Chloe with an honest smile, getting tossed away by Max upon this reply.

"Then you're useless!" she yelled, dropped on her knees beside her late girlfriend and began to shed some more tears.

But Chloe wasn't done, yet. The punky girl sat down on some scrap metal that used to be a car and began to recount her thoughts.

"Y'know, when my Dad died, I felt pretty much alone. Mom was busy mourning, later busy fucking this douche with a pornstache. I never had friends or people who cared about me that much to share my sadness. So, one night, I gazed at the stars and begged the universe to turn back time. But not to necessarily undo my Dad's death – I had already accepted that – but to gimme the chance to find someone, who would be at my side and help me pulling through, through all this shit. A real friend, who would also gimme love and safety."

Slowly, Chloe stood up again and softly touched Max's shoulder. "Sadly, I never had time travel powers, but you…"

Chloe's sentence stayed incomplete as the punk girl vanished into thin air, leaving Max alone once again.

For a long time, Max thought about the red-head's words. What they meant. What they were telling her. And out of the sudden, the brunette came up with an idea. She rummaged through her old camera bag and brought forth an old picture of her and her family.

* * *

August 2014

Marsh residence, Arcadia Bay

The lovely sound of her violin chimed through her room and engulfed her young mind with peace and harmony. After the last note was slowly pealing out, Kate Beverly Marsh put down her instrument and kept her eyes close. The 15-year-old had always loved the aftermath of a play, may it be by her own violin or another instrument.

"Kate, there's someone on the phone for you!" her mother's voice called from downstairs, pulling the young teenager back to reality.

"Got it!" she replied, put the violin aside and took the call on the cordless phone in her room.

"Kate Marsh here!" spoke Kate with her sweet voice into the receiver, but only heard a deep inhale and shaky breath on the other end of the line, which made her feel uncomfortable. "Um…h-hello? Wh-who's there?"

"Katie?!" a soft, female voice answered, sounding brittle and somewhat relieved.

"Um…yes, this is Kate Marsh. Wh-who am I speaking to?"

It took another two seconds for the unknown voice to answer. Two seconds in which the blonde girl with the bun felt even more uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that she would've loved to end the call right away.

"Listen Kate, my name is Maxine Caulfield and you don't know me…yet. Listen, what I'm gonna tell you now sounds so freakin' unbelievable, but please…promise me that you'll at least let me finish, okay?"

Kate had always been a sensitive and cautious person. Though she was kind-hearted and had an open mind, she also was aware that there were bad people out there, who hurt girls like her. Still, the urge, importance and confidence in Maxine's tone let her develop some sort of trust and eventually whiff a soft "Okay!" into the receiver.

"Thank you!" chimed the reply in relief, before Maxine continued. "Listen Kate, I need you to do me favor. You see my number on your phone?"

The young girl gave the display of her phone a short glimpse before putting it back on her ear. "Yes!"

"Great! Okay, right after I cancel this call, you wait…I don't know…um, maybe ten minutes and then call me again. It's my cell, so I'll be the only one to answer it." Maxine paused another second, taking another audible inhale. "And now comes the freaky part: I won't remember calling you. But still, talk to me. Tell me something about you. Gimme hope! Can you do that?"

Normally, Kate would have declined the request kindly, but also with determination. Yet, some sort of inner feeling and need for adventure were emerging from within and urging the young girl to agree with another honestly whiffed "Okay!"

"Thank you!" chimed the now again brittle voice through the phone, followed by a weak "Goodbye!" before the call was canceled.

Slowly, Kate let her arm with the cordless phone in her hand drop and sat down on her bed. In Catholic school, they had warned them about talking to strangers or answering weird phone calls or emails. But Kate felt that this was something different. She felt some kind of bond with that unknown girl, which she couldn't really explain.

Time flew by as the young blonde was literally lost in deep thoughts, and before she knew it, more than twenty minutes had passed.

Gasping upon being late for the asked for call, Kate took out her own cell and dialed the number of Maxine Caulfield. It rang…once, twice, thrice…but no one answered so far.

"Curses!" she cussed, almost disappointed in herself for not even fulfilling such a minor request, as suddenly her call was accepted.

"H-hello?" chimed that soft voice once again, but this time its tone was different: shy, insecure, unconfident. Like the opposite of the previous caller.

' _Okay, remember: she doesn't know you or that she called you before. Ugh, let's hope it's not just a stupid prank!'_

"Uh, hi! M-my name is Kate Beverly Marsh. Am I speaking with Maxine Caulfield?"

"Um…yeah! B-but it's just Max, never Maxine! D-do I know you?" Max answered, sounding even more timid.

"No…not really. Listen, I know it sounds strange, but…uh…but you called me before and asked me to call you back."

Silence occurred for a moment on the other end of the line, soon replaced by quiet sobs.

' _Is she crying?!'_

"P-please…" Max whimpered, "Please don't! If this is another prank…please don't do it! I can't…I can't take this anymore! Please!"

' _Oh my god, what happened to this poor soul that she thinks I'm gonna prank her and already pleads me to stop?!'_ thought Kate, and knew right away that she needed to help this girl.

"Max, I promise you, it's not a prank!" she said, trying to sound as much soothing as possible. "Tell you what, why don't we start over and forget what I said before, okay? Just like it's the first day in school and we just met."

"I hate school!" was the still sad girl's cried reply, followed by another bunch of sobs.

' _Darn it! Let's try a neutral place!'_

"Um…okay. Then, how about a teashop? Do you like tea?"

"Y-yeah."

' _Success!'_

"That's cool! What kind of tea? I'm totally in for some black tea, and you?"

"P-peppermint."

"Okay! Nice taste! Now, imagine we're at a teashop. Any tables are occupied, so I decide to ask you if I can sit down at yours. You're with me?"

"Mmh-hmm," confirmed Max and sniffed a few times, now sounding a bit calmer.

"So, I'm asking you if the seat on your table is empty and you just nod. I sit down, order a tea and you…um…you're reading a book. What's your favorite book?"

Again, there's a pause. And though it sounded at first that the ice might had been broken, Max's tone got timid once more.

"I-I don't read in public. People…people will pick on me for what I read. No matter, what it'll be."

Then she sobbed once more, whining angrily "I…I can't do this! Nobody likes me! Everyone hates me! Why would you be any different? How should I know that you won't use the things I tell you to fuck me over, huh?"

Though Kate would had loved to say something different, she could only answer "You…you can't!"

Small droplets were forming at the corners of her eyes as despair took a grasp on her kind heart. How could she help such a poor, broken girl? She never had been confronted with such an amount of hopelessness and mistrust. But on the other hand, how should you trust anyone, who you met not even an hour ago and knew nothing else than a voice? So, she came up with a new idea.

"Max, do you have Skype?"

She knew that this was nothing more than a longshot, but it was a last straw to save this situation and help this poor girl in distress.

"Yeah…um, why?"

There still was a lot of doubt in Max's voice, nonetheless, Kate held on to her idea and put as much faith as possible in her proposal.

"Maybe you can judge if I'm honest or not by looking into my eyes."

After another pause on the other end of the line, Max eventually said "I'm firing up my Laptop!"

Right away, Kate was excited and happy at the same time. Max hadn't given up on her, yet. "My nickname is _bunny_angel_."

Kate had just started the program as the melody of an incoming call sounded. She resettled the build-in camera of her laptop one last time and then engaged the connection.

The loading screen appeared and as it was replaced by the image of a young girl with freckles and long brown hair, bound into a ponytail, Kate's heart skipped a beat and her mouth stood agape. Though it took her some time to regain her countenance again, Kate immediately put on her warmest smile.

"Can you see me?" she asked, but instead of an answer, Kate realized that Max was looking at her with a strange stare. "You okay?"

"You're so beautiful!" whiffed Max, barely audible and instantly became beet-red.

"What?!" squealed Kate out in surprise, which let the other girl wince and cover her face in shame. But as soon as Kate had shaken off said first surprise, she overcame her own shyness and listened to her heart. "Um…th-thank you! You…uh…you're beautiful as well!"

' _Beautiful?! What are you doing, Kate?'_

"Y-you think?" it chimed muffled from under Max's cupped hands before she dropped them and revealed her stunned demeanor. "N-nobody has ever called me…b-beautiful."

' _Keep going, Kate! Encourage her! Give her hope!'_

"Yes! Very beautiful! Especially your freckles!" answered Kate truthfully, feeling how her heart was almost jumping out of her chest while she was blushing intensively.

' _How could anybody say that she isn't beautiful? She's actually really cute and I…I…I feel some kind of tickle in my stomach!'_

Once more, Max's eyes began to well up, though this time, these were tears of joy, evident by the sobbed laugh. "Th-thank you!" she whispered and Kate herself began to spill some tears under a soft smile as she witnessed how her small compliment had such a positive impact on the brunette girl.

"You're very welcome! Listen, I don't know what stupid people told you otherwise or make fun of you, but know this: from today on, I wanna be your friend! And whenever you're sad or in need for some soothing words, I'll be there for you!"

"F-forever?" asked Max and it sounded like she was holding on to a lifeline.

"Yes! Forever and Ever!" was Kate's honest answer as she brushed with her fingertips over the freckled girl's face on the screen. From this day on, Kate and Max would call each other every day.

* * *

A few years (and far less murder) later…

Academy for Modern Arts, Los Angeles, California

A door swings open and two almost eighteen years old girls stumble inside the room, giggling in giddiness.

"First!" cheered the freckled one with the chin-long brown hair, receiving a soft push by the other girl, who had her blond hair bound into a bun.

"You cheated, Max!" she retorted, crossing her arms and pouted artificially.

"Oh c'mon, Katie!" returned Max softly, closed the door and wrapped her arms around Kate's neck. "Y'know how much I love to mock you. Besides," with a warm smile, she leaned in and pressed her lips on Kate's, before she cooed into her ear, "Now that we live on our own, you can give me a proper punishment!"

The blonde's breath stopped for a second while her heartrate increased. They both had waited for this moment for so long. Since the day Kate had first contacted Max, both had become very close friends and soon started some kind of long-distance relationship as they learned so much about each other and had developed deep feelings for another. Max's depression and mental issues got better with every passing day and over time, things got pretty serious as Max had visited the Christian girl during the summer holidays. Still, they had been forced to keep a low profile due to Kate's parents. But now that they visited a boarding school in Los Angeles, they eventually got the needed space to spice up their relationship to the next level.

Although Kate was a devout Christian, she had been yearning for sex for over a year now, no matter if it would be premarital or not. Numerous masturbation sessions with Max via Skype bearing another witness to that need for intimacy with her girlfriend, as well. And right now was the time.

Both girls would take the next step and seal another tight bond, whereas only one of them carried a dark secret, which had made this event even possible.

* * *

Another couple of weeks later…

Marsh residence, Arcadia Bay, Oregon

A fine layer of dust was covering every bit of the inventory. Where once the sounds and prayers of a Christian family chimed, only eerie silence remained.

A secret laid upon this house. A dark secret, which would tremble the fundamentals of an entire community. It had been the biggest secret of the Marsh family, yet Kate found out about it, her nosiness triggered by her secret girlfriend, Max.

It hadn't been easy to find this hidden door, but Kate had always been smart. And as the passage had opened and revealed hell on earth to the young girl, she became aware that the key to finally make her relationship to a girl public didn't lie in telling her bigot parents about it, but to avoid this unpleasant situation at all.

Yes, she would tell them. And she wouldn't even lie about the details, because that's against the rules. But she would set the terms!

A trap was easily set and her parents way too naïve to suspect anything like it from her daughter. Yet, Richard and Janine Marsh were sitting in this very chamber, their bodies tied onto two spiked chairs, side-by-side, and their withered fingers intertwined.

Kate wanted them to leave this world together and this was what she had done. She had fixed her mother and father on the chairs and then had pierced their hearts with one long spear, connecting them for eternity…or until they would decompose eventually.

Now they're sitting there. Two decaying corpses, guarding the secret of the Marsh family, which they were now a part of. A secret nobody would find; nobody would know about. Because, Eleanor Marsh, who had been in this as well, had a tragic accident, containing a ladder and a hedge clippers and had taken her knowledge into her moldy grave.

It had been for the best. Carla and Lynn were sent to a Catholic boarding school in Portland as long as Kate's relatives were fighting for custody. Hopefully, the right person would get it or else fate had to be bent into the right direction.

Kate, however, was now free to go wherever she wanted and with whom she wanted. She was free to give in to her obsession for one particular girl. But she would never tell Max the grim truth. Janine and Richard Marsh would simply stay missing and that's it.

Everything else would remain nothing more than a dark secret.

 **\- The End -**


End file.
